s
/ɛs/letter, number, noun
s is spelled S: one letter and one syllable. It appears 724 times per million words in written English, the 144th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a letter, s means “The nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in s?
| Letters | 1: S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 724 times per million words; the 144th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is s?
S appears 724 times per million words in written English, the 144th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce s?
- /ɛs/
- /s/
- /ʃ/
S has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-s.ogg, En-us-s_sound_after_consonant.ogg, En-us-S-letter.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of s
- ss plural
- s's plural
- ’s
- </s>
- s***s plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- s***ting participle, present
- s****ing participle, present
- s***ted participle, past
- s****ed participle, past
- s–s plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- s–ing participle, present
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does s mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
letter
- 1
The nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The nineteenth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.
letter
- 1
The nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The nineteenth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.
noun
- 1
Initialism of south.
- 2
Initialism of season (group of episodes of a series).
I watched S01 through 03. I have yet to watch the S04.
- 3
Initialism of small (the manufactured size or an item of that size).
- 4
Initialism of soprano.
- 5
Initialism of subtitles.
- 6
Initialism of sextodecimo (book size, 15-17.5 cm in height).
- 7
datedInitialism of sadist.
adjective
- 1
Initialism of small (of the manufactured size).
- 2
Initialism of satisfactory.
symbol
- 1
datedAn orthographic ⟨s⟩ with a diacritic that marks it as being the consonant /z/, as in the word "his".
noun
- 1
plural of ſ
noun
- 1
plural of Æ
noun
- 1
plural of Æ
noun
- 1
plural of æ
noun
- 1
plural of þ
noun
- 1
plural of þ
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of scruple, a unit of mass in the apothecaries' system.
- 2
Abbreviation of strange quark.
- 3
Alternative form of s..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
S in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | -s, -x , de , chez |
| German | -e, -en, -er, -s , S |
| Portuguese | -s, -es, -ns, -is, -ãos, -ões |
| Spanish | -s, -es , de |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.