long ess

plural long esses

1. alternativeAlternative form of long s.

   Long ess, ſ, is used at the beginning or in the middle of a word or syllable;

   1895, M[oses] J[asper] Martin, Inductive German Method (The Werner Modern Language Series), book first, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Werner School Book Company, page 6

   2 more examples

   There are also a few examples of books printed at around this time in which the long and short esses appear willy-nilly, due, no doubt, to an attempt to abandon the older usage, which partly failed due to carelessness, habit or lack of understanding on the part of the compositors involved.

   2001, Journal of the Printing Historical Society, page 11

   “Short esses” (s) appear at the end of words, and “long esses” are never used for an upper case S.

   2009, “A Note to the Reader”, in Passing the Torch of Liberty to a New Generation, Powder Springs, Ga.: American Vision Press, →ISBN, page xvii