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SMS

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: sms, SMs, šms, and sms'

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

  • S.M.S., S. M. S.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɛs ɛm ˈɛs/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

Proper noun

SMS

  1. (telecommunications) Initialism of short message service: a system enabling cell phones to send or receive text messages.
    Coordinate term: MMS
    • 2007 October 15, Eric Newman, “iPhone is different things to different dudes”, in Brandweek, volume 48, →ISSN, page 226:
      The second spot, “One Thing,” shows the unlikely custom car shop workin', musclebound dude-bro, who loves his iPhone because it consolidates the iPod, camera, cell phone and SMS device he used to carry around in “a little bag.”
    • 2023 February 18, Ramishah Maruf, “Twitter to charge for SMS two-factor authentication”, in CNN Business:
      As of 2021, only 2.6% of Twitter users had a 2FA method enabled – and of those, 74.4% used SMS authentication, a Twitter account security report said.

Noun

SMS (countable and uncountable, plural SMSes or SMSs)

  1. (countable) A text message sent using the short message service.
    Synonym: text
    Coordinate term: MMS
    • 2004 July 5, Nicola Clark, “Wireless: Consumers seek help in cutting mobile spam”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 September 2025:
      The Empower Interactive survey found that more than 7 of 10 cellphone users considered any form of unsolicited SMSs, or text messages, unacceptable.
  2. (numismatics) Initialism of special mint set.
  3. Initialism of salesman sample.
  4. (genetics, pathology) Initialism of Smith-Magenis syndrome.
  5. (psychology) Initialism of short man syndrome.
  6. (neurology) Initialism of stiff man syndrome.
    Synonym: SPS
  7. Initialism of safety management system: a system designed to identify and manage occupational safety and health risks.
  8. Initialism of senior minister of state.
Translations

Verb

SMS (third-person singular simple present SMSes, present participle SMSing, simple past and past participle SMSed)

  1. To send a message on a cell phone via short message service.
    Synonym: text
    I SMSed him and asked why he was late.
    I can't talk to her: she is too busy SMSing her friends.
Translations
See also

Proper noun

SMS

  1. (video games) Initialism of Sega Master System.

Etymology 2

From German SMS.

Noun

SMS (uncountable)

  1. (military, nautical, initialism) SMS Seiner Majestät Schiff literally, "His Majesty's Ship" in German;
    Coordinate terms: HM, HMS, HBMS, HSMS, HSwMS, HDMS, HDaMS, HNLMS, HNMS, HNoMS
    Coordinate terms: SM, Zr.Ms., Hr.Ms.
    1. A ship prefix for a ship in the navy of the Empire of Germany (usually for the period leading to WWI and WWI)
      Synonym: HIGMS

Anagrams

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Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

SMS

  1. misspelling of sms

French

Pronunciation

Noun

SMS m (invariable)

  1. SMS, text, text message
    Synonym: (France) texto

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɛsʔɛmˈʔɛs/ (official standard)
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˌɛsɛˈmɛs/, /-se-/, /-zɛ-/, /-ze-/ (common speech, for Etymology 1)

Etymology 1

Noun

SMS f or n (strong or mixed, genitive SMS, plural SMS or SMSen or SMSe)

  1. SMS (text message)
Usage notes
  • The noun is almost exclusively feminine in northern Germany, central Germany, and Luxembourg. The neuter gender is predominant in the southern half of the language area, but the feminine is also heard.
  • The unchanged plural SMS is generally used with the neuter gender. The form SMSe is rarer.
  • With the feminine, the marked form SMSen is often needed to express the plural, but the unchanged form can be used when the plural is evident from the grammatical construction or the context.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

  • S. M. S.

Noun

SMS

  1. (nautical, military) SMS Seiner Majestät Schiff (His Majesty's Ship)
Usage notes

Used for naval ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Second Reich of Imperial Germany, for the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine and Kaiserliche Marine, respectively.

Descendants
  • English: SMS
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Hungarian

Etymology

Initialism of Short Message Service.

Pronunciation

Noun

SMS (plural SMS-ek)

  1. SMS, text message (a service for sending text messages on a cellular telephone system)

Declension

More information singular, plural ...
More information possessor, single possession ...

Derived terms

  • SMS-ezik
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Indonesian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛsˈɛm.ɛs/, [ɛsˈɛm.ɛs]

Noun

SMS (plural SMS-SMS)

  1. SMS (text message)
    Synonym: layanan pesan singkat
  2. (military) initialism of senapan mesin sedang (medium machine gun)

Italian

Noun

SMS m

  1. SMS (text message)

Japanese

Noun

SMS(エスエムエス) (esu-emu-esu) 

  1. SMS

Synonyms

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Alternative forms

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English SMS.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛs.ɛmˈɛs/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛs
  • Syllabification: S‧M‧S

Noun

SMS m animal or m inan (related adjective SMS-owy)

  1. (countable) SMS, text message (brief electronic message sent between mobile phones)
    Synonyms: es, esek, esemes, eska
  2. (uncountable, telecommunications) short message service (system for transmitting text messages on mobile phones)

Declension

Derived terms

verbs
  • SMS-ować impf

Further reading

  • SMS in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • SMS in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English SMS.

Noun

SMS m or f (invariable)

  1. SMS; text message (a text message sent on a cell phone)
    Synonyms: mensagem de texto, (Brazil) torpedo

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English SMS.

Noun

SMS n (plural SMS-uri)

  1. SMS; text message (a text message sent on a cell phone)

Declension

More information singular, plural ...

Synonyms

  • mesaj SMS, mesaj scurt
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Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌese ˌeme ˈese/ [ˌe.se ˌe.me ˈe.se]

Noun

SMS m (plural SMS)

  1. (telecommunications) SMS
    • 2013 April 17, “Revisa tu celular: estos son los países más afectados por el "malware"”, in CNN en Español:
      Los usuarios móviles también pueden ser engañados a través del llamado smishing; una combinación de las palabras SMS y phishing (donde un usuario recibe un mensaje de texto en el que se le pide información personal como un número de tarjeta de crédito o dirección de correo electrónico).
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

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