ds

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ds"

Translingual

Symbol

ds

2. (metrology) Symbol for decisecond, an SI unit of time equal to 10⁻¹ seconds.

English

Noun

ds

1. plural of d

Usage notes

• Opinions vary regarding the use of apostrophes when forming the plurals of letters of the alphabet. New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, after noting that the usage has changed, states on page 602 that “after letters an apostrophe is obligatory.” The 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style states in paragraph 7.15, “To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s”. The Oxford Style Manual on page 116 advocates the use of common sense.

Adjective

ds (not comparable)

1. (biochemistry) Abbreviation of double-stranded.

   Coordinate term: ss

Anagrams

• S&D, S. D., S.D., SD, sd

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /dɛs/
  • Conventional anglicization: des

Etymology 1

Speculatively, Orel and Stolbova claim a derivation from a form such as Proto-Afroasiatic *dac- (“flint knife”); as with other attempts at reconstructing Proto-Afroasiatic, academic consensus is lacking.

Noun

 m

1. flint

Inflection

Declension of ds (masculine)

singular	ds
dual	dswj
plural	dsw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ds  

ds

Noun

 m

1. knife
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.2–1.3:

     spd dsw r th-mtn nn ḥn nj js ḥr zp.f

     Sharp are the knives against one who transgresses the path; there is no haste except at its proper time.

Inflection

Declension of ds (masculine)

singular	ds
dual	dswj
plural	dsw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ds  

ḏs

[Middle Kingdom]

Derived terms

• mds

Etymology 2

Noun

 m

1. jar
2. a measure of volume used for beer

Inflection

Declension of ds (masculine)

singular	ds
dual	dswj
plural	dsw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ds  

ds	ḏs	ḏs	dsj
[since the Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom and 18th Dynasty]	[Middle Kingdom and 18th Dynasty]	[since the 18th Dynasty]

References

• “ds (lemma ID 180610)”, “ds (lemma ID 180620)”, and “ds (lemma ID 180600)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎, Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
• Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1931), Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 5, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 485.3–487.1
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962), A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 316
• James P[eter] Allen (2010), Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 106.
• Orel, Vladimir E.; Stolbova, Olga V. (1995), Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary: Materials for a Reconstruction (Handbuch der Orientalistik; I.18), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill, page 140

Juǀ'hoan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡tsʼ/

Letter

ds (upper case Ds)

1. A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.