ess

English

Alternative forms

• es

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕs, IPA^(key): /ˈɛs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

ess (plural esses)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.
   • 1998, Ricardo Corona, "These Esses" ("Eses esses"), in Other Shores (Outras Praias), translated by Ricardo Corona & Charles Perrone

     these esses / change in design / and senses themselves / $ // it's as if / the ess / were the sounds / of success

   • 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

     I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

2. Something shaped like the letter S. (See esses)

Usage notes

• Compounds are normally spelled es: es-hook, es-link, etc.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Verb

ess (third-person singular simple present esses, present participle essing, simple past and past participle essed)

1. To move in a changing direction, forming the shape of a letter S.

Hypernyms

• wind

Translations

Anagrams

• -ses, SES, SEs, SSE

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Middle High German esche, asche, from Old High German asc, from Proto-Germanic *askaz (“ash tree”). Cognate with German Esche, English ash.

Noun

ess m (plural ésse)

1. (Sette Comuni) ash (tree)

   Memme ésse manzich machan biil èrbot.

   Many things can be done with ash wood.

Declension

References

• “ess” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Estonian

Noun

ess (genitive , partitive )

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.

Faroese

Etymology 1

Noun

ess n (genitive singular ess, plural ess)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.

Declension

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) bókstavur; a / fyrra a, á, be, de, edd, e, eff, ge, há, i / fyrra i, í / fyrra í, jodd, ká, ell, emm, enn, o, ó, pe, err, ess, te, u, ú, ve, seinna i, seinna í, seinna a, ø

Etymology 2

Noun

ess n (genitive singular ess, plural ess)

1. (card games) ace

Declension

Etymology 3

Noun

ess n (genitive singular ess, plural ess)

1. (music) E-flat

Declension

German

Verb

ess

1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of essen

   Synonym: (standard) esse

2. (colloquial) singular imperative of essen

   Synonym: (standard) iss

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ess
• Rhymes: -ɛʃː

Etymology 1

esik +‎ -j

Alternative forms

• essél

Verb

ess

1. second-person singular subjunctive present indefinite of esik

Etymology 2

Noun

ess

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.

Declension

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) betű; a, á, bé, cé, csé, dé, dzé, dzsé, e, é, eff, gé, gyé, há, i, í, jé, ká, ell, ellipszilon / elly / ejj, emm, enn, enny, o, ó, ö, ő, pé, kú, err, ess, essz, té, tyé, u, ú, ü, ű, vé, dupla vé / vevé, iksz, ipszilon, zé, zsé. (See also: Latin script letters.)

Further reading

• ess in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛsː/
• Rhymes: -ɛsː

Noun

ess n (genitive singular ess, nominative plural ess)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.
2. (music) bocal (on a bassoon)
3. (poetic) horse

Declension

See also

• í essinu sínu (“in one's element”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin as, via Middle Low German es.

Noun

ess n (definite singular esset, indefinite plural ess, definite plural essa or essene)

1. an ace (playing card; or someone very proficient)

References

• “ess” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Latin as, via Middle Low German es.

Noun

ess n (definite singular esset, indefinite plural ess, definite plural essa)

2. (card games) an ace
3. (idiomatic) a high-performing] athlete

Usage notes

• Prior to a revision in 2019, this noun was also considered grammatically masculine. The forms essen, essar, and essane were then made obsolete.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• Ess (alternative capitalization)

Noun

ess m (definite singular essen, indefinite plural essar, definite plural essane)

2. (music) E-flat

References

• “ess” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• -ess, ses

Old Irish

Noun

ess

1. Alternative form of es (“cataract, rapid”) m
2. Alternative form of es (“vessel”) n
3. Alternative form of es (“death”)
4. Alternative form of es (“ox”)

Mutation

Penobscot

Etymology

From Proto-Algonquian *e·hsa (“shell; mollusk”). Cognate with Unami èhës.

Noun

ess anim (plural èssak, possessed wətéssomal)

1. clam, bivalve, mussel, bivalve shell

Swedish

Alternative forms

• äss (meanings 1 and 2 below)

Pronunciation

• Homophone: S

Noun

ess n

1. ace; a card with one mark
2. ace; someone very proficient
3. (music) E-flat

Declension

See also

Playing cards in Swedish · kort (layout · text)
ess, äss	tvåa, två	trea, tre	fyra	femma, fem	sexa, sex	sjua, sju
åtta	nia, nio	tia, tio	knekt	dam, drottning	kung	joker

Anagrams

• ses

Võro

Noun

ess (genitive , partitive )

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English asse, from Old English assa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛs/

Noun

ess

1. ass (donkey)

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 38