S

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

S: s, indecl. n. or (agreeing with littera) f.
I The eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding in form to the old Greek S for Σ> (Etruscan in a reversed form, ); in its nature a sibilant semi-vowel, whose peculiarities were much discussed by the ancients, and are even treated of in a special work by Messala, a contemporary of Augustus (Messala in libro de S littera, Quint. 1, 7, 23; cf. Mart. Cap. 3, § 245).—
II As an initial and medial it has a hard and sharp sound (which is softened, however, between two vowels), and is therefore joined only with the tenues (c, p, t; cf., on the contrary, the Gr. σβέννυμι); and, as a medial, often written double after long vowels: caussa, cassus, divissiones (these forms, used by Cicero and Vergil, were already uncommon in Quintilian's time, Quint. 1, 7, 20; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 283 sq.).—
III As a final it had a weakened sound, and therefore not only admitted the medial b before it (plebs, urbs, abs; Arabs, chalybs, etc.;
v. the letter B), but often entirely disappeared. So in the ante-class. poets down to the early years of Cicero (and also in his own poem, entitled Aratus, written in his youth), before words beginning with a consonant, to avoid position: Ratu' Romulus, Fulviu' Nobilior, gravi' Terra, est sati' bella, Hyperioni' cursum, Virgine' nam sibi, etc.; cf. Cic. Or. 48, 161; Quint. 9, 4, 38; and v. Freund, in Jahn's Neue Jahrb. 1835, XIII. p. 25 sq.; less freq. before words beginning with a vowel, in which case, to avoid a hiatus, the vowel before s was also elided; vas' argenteis (for vasis argenteis) and palm' et crinibus (for palmis et crinibus); v. Cic. Or. 45, 153. So, too, in the fourth Epitaph of the Scipios (Inscr. Orell. 553), L. CORNELIO L. F. instead of CORNELIOS (cf. a similar elision of the M under that letter). Final s is also elided, and the preceding vowel either dropped with it or weakened, in the forms sat from satis, mage from magis; in the neutr. forms of adjectives of the third declension, acre, agreste, facile (v. the letter E); in the collat. forms of the sec. pers. sing. pass., fatere, fateare, fatebare, etc.; in the gen. sing. of the first, second, and fifth declensions, and in the nom. plur. of the first and second declensions (aurai for aura-is, analog. to regis, etc.). Lastly, s disappears in the (mostly familiar) collat. forms abin', scin', viden', satin', from abisne, scisne, videsne, satisne, etc.—
As an etymological initial aspirate, s appears in many words whose Greek equivalents begin with a vowel: sal, semi-, serpo, sex, super, sus, corresp. to ἅλς, ἡμι-, ἕρπω, ἕξ, ὑπέρ, ς,> etc.; si (archaic sei), sero, Segesta, corresp. to εἰ, ἘΡΩ> (whence εἴρω), Ἔγεστα. Less freq. in radical words beginning with a consonant: sculpo corresp. to γλύφω,> and the derivatives scruta, from γρύτη,> and scrupedae, from κρούπεζα. To soften the termination, s appears in abs = ab, and ex corresp. to ἐκ.—Very freq., on the contrary, an initial s appears in cognate forms in other languages, where corresp. Latin words have lost the s: Lat. fallo, Gr. σφάλλω; fungus, Gr. σφόγγος; fides, Gr. σφίδη (comp. also nix with Engl. snow, nurus with old Germ. snur, daughterin-law); cf. also cutis and scutum; cauda and root sku-, in Goth. skauts, etc.; casa and Gr. σκιά, σκηνή; cerno and Gr. κρίνω for σκίρνω, σκώρ, σκωρία; calumnia and σκάλλω; gradior and root scra-, Germ. schreiten; parco and σπαρνός; penuria and σπάνις; pando and σπάω; tego and στέγω; tono and στόνος; taurus and Sanscr. sthūras, Germ. Stier al.; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, p. 277 sqq.—In the middle of a word s is dropped in at from ast.—
S is interchanged,
   A Most freq. with r; in partic., an original s, between two vowels, becomes r; v. Varr. L. L. 7, § 26 Müll.; so foederum for foedesum, plurima for plusima, meliorem for meliosem, Lares for Lases, etc.; cf. eram and sum, quaero and quaeso, nasus and naris. Appius Claudius, the censor, is said to have introduced r into the names Furius, Valerius, etc., in place of s, B.C. 312 (v. the letter R, II.).—
   B With d: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus; and, on the other hand, rosa, corresp. to the Gr. ῥόδον; cf. Schneid. Gram. 1, p. 259.—
   C With t: tensus and tentus, resina corresp. to ῥητίνη; and, on the contrary, aggrettus for aggressus; mertare, pultare, for mersare, pulsare (perh. also assentor for assensor).—
   D With x; v. that letter.—
S is assimilated before f in the compounds of dis: differo, difficilis, diffluo, etc.; v. 3. dis.— On the other hand, it arises by assimilation from d, in assum, assumo, cessi, for adsum, adsumo, ced-si; from t in fassus, from fateor; from b in jussi, from jubeo; from m in pressi, from premo; from r in gessi, from gero; and dossuarius, from dorsum. —
As an abbreviation, S denotes sacrum, semis, sibi, suis, etc.; S. AS. D., sub asciā dedicavit; S. C., senatusconsultum; perh. also, sententia collegii (Inscr. Orell. 2385); S. P., sua pecunia; S. P. Q. R., Senatus Populusque Romanus, etc.

Latin > German (Georges)

S, s, der achtzehnte Buchstabe des latein. Alphabets, entsprechend dem griech. Σ (σίγμα), aber kurzweg Es genannt. – Im weitesten Umfange ist s mit r verwandt, s. R. – In mehreren Wörtern ist s an die Stelle des älteren t getreten, wie mersare, pulsare für die veralteten mertare, pultare (s. Quint. 1, 4, 14) – In manchen Wörtern vertritt s die Stelle des griech. Spiritus asper, wie ὑπέρ, super, ὕδωρ, sudor u. dgl. – Auch wird s teils am Anfange, teils in der Mitte, teils am Ende der Wörter nicht selten ausgestoßen, z.B. fallo = σφάλλω, tego = στέγω, (st) latus, (st) lacus u.a.; ferner dū (s) mus, dū (s) metum, (st) lis u.a. (umgekehrt γρύτη = scruta). Bes. lassen die Dichter der älteren Sprachperiode das s der Endungen us u. is sehr häufig verschwinden, wenn das nächste Wort mit einem Konsonanten anfängt, z.B. qui est omnibu' princeps u. vita illa dignu' locoque, s. Cic. or. 161. Quint. 9, 4, 38. Max. Victor. 216, 12 sq.: so auch in Inschrn., z.B. L. CORNELIO L. F. statt CORNELIOS, Corp. inscr. Lat. 1². p. 8. – Assimilation erfährt s in dis- vor f, z.B. difficilis, differo. Durch Assimilation entsteht es aus b, d und einigen anderen Buchstaben, zB. iubeo, iussi (statt iubsi), cedo, cessi (statt cedsi), premo, pressi (st. premsi), pando, passurn (pandsum, pansum) u. dgl. – Als Abkürzung bezeichnet S den Vornamen Sextus: auf Münzen = semissis: ebenso s. od. Sp. = Spurius: S. C. = senatus consultum: S. P. Q. R. = senatus populusque Romanus: S. D. = salutem dicit.