's . A contraction for is or (colloquially) for has. "My heart's subdued." Shak.
-'s [OE. -es, AS. -es.]
The suffix used to form the possessive singular of nouns; as, boy's; man's.
-s . 1. [OE. es, AS. as.]
The suffix used to form the plural of most words; as in roads,
elfs, sides, accounts.
2. [OE. -s, for older -th, AS. - ð.] The suffix used to form the third person singular indicative of English verbs; as in falls, tells, sends.
3. An adverbial suffix; as in
towards, needs, always, -- originally the genitive, possesive, ending.
See -'s.
S (&ebreve;s), the nineteenth letter of the
English alphabet, is a consonant, and is often called a sibilant, in allusion to its hissing sound. It has two principal sounds; one a mere hissing, as in sack, this; the other a vocal
hissing (the same as that
of z), as
in is, wise. Besides these it sometimes has the sounds of sh and zh, as in sure, measure. It generally has its hissing sound at the
beginning of words, but in the middle and at
the end of
words its sound is determined by usage. In a few words it is silent, as
in isle, débris. With the letter h it forms the
digraph sh. See Guide to pronunciation, §§ 255-261.
Both the form and the
name of the
letter S are derived from the Latin, which got the
letter through the Greek from the Phænician. The ultimate origin is Egyptian. S is etymologically most nearly related to c, z, t, and r; as, in ice, OE. is; E. hence, OE.
hennes; E. rase, raze; erase, razor;
that, G. das; E. reason, F. raison, L. ratio; E. was, were;
chair, chaise (see C, Z, T, and R.).
Hear it pronounced