Long s

This article is about ſ, the archaic variant of the letter s. For the letter ʃ as used in Latin script, see Esh (letter). For the mathematical symbol ∫, see Integral symbol. For the phonetic sound ʃ, see Voiceless postalveolar fricative.
Not to be confused with f.

An italicized long s used in the word "Congress" (as "Congreſs") in the United States Bill of Rights
This page uses notation for orthographic or other linguistic analysis. For the meaning of how ⟨ ⟩, | |, / /, and [ ] are used here, see this page.

The long s, ⟨ſ⟩, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works from the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It replaced one or both[a] of the letters s in a double-s sequence (e.g., "ſinfulneſs" for "sinfulness" and "poſſeſs" or "poſseſs" for "possess", but never "poſſeſſ").[1] The modern ⟨s⟩ letterform is known as the "short", "terminal", or "round" s. In typography, the long s is known as a type of swash letter, commonly referred to as a "swash s".[2] The long s is the basis of the first half of the grapheme of the German alphabet ligature letter ⟨ß⟩,[3] (eszett or scharfes s, 'sharp s'). As with other letters, the long s may have a variant appearance depending on typeface: ſ, ſ, ſ, ſ.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Babelstone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Berger, Sidney (2016). The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarians, and Others. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 252, 295. ISBN 9781442263390.
  3. ^ Cheng, Karen (2006). Designing Type. Laurence King Publishing. p. 212. ISBN 9781856694452.