long s

American  

[es] / ɛs /

Or long ess

noun

1. a style of the letter s, suggesting a lowercase f in form, formerly common in handwriting and as a type character.

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long s British  

noun

1. Also called: long ess.  a lower-case s, printed ʃ, formerly used in handwriting and printing

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

long s

The long "s" does nothing to aid comprehension, and indeed causes problems, noted in the Textual Appendix: e.g. confusion between "besit" and "befit".

From The Faerie Queene — Volume 01 by Spenser, Edmund

You will observe, Watson, the alternative use of the long s and the short.

From The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir

A version of the text containing the long s font has been made available.

From Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Godwin, William

It should have been sore eyes, but the long s had misled the clerk.

From The Parish Clerk by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

In the Gothic types used by Skinner f might be easily mistaken for a long s.

From The Rowley Poems by Chatterton, Thomas