Arapacana Press

The Alphabetary Heraldic

Genealogical Glossary

—Si-Ss—

Si : [anthropology] sister.

Si : [Ch] a Chinese surname.  Jules Aloui adopted Si as his surname, and was called Si Ju Lue.[93]

SI : Système International d’Unités, International System of Units.

SI prefixes : standardized prefixes used to designate metric units, such as exa-, peta-, tera-, giga-, mega-, kilo-, hecto-, deca-, deci-, centi-, milli-, micro-, nano-, pico-, femto-, and atto-.  Giga- means one billion, whereas mega- means one million.

-sia : -se : -sis : -sy : [Gk] act of.

Siamese twin : [1829] one of a pair of congenitally united twins.  The phrase was devised to describe the famous pair Chang and Eng (1829-1874), natives of Siam, now Thailand.

Siamese twins : Cf. joined at the hip.

siange : [Winnebago] a shaman male who acts as an oracle.

sib : [Am] a general descent group, irrespective of patriliny or matriliny; a group that may be subdivided into paternal patrisibs or gentes, and maternal matrisibs or clans.  This is an old American definition for sib as a descent group, rather than a sibling or group of siblings.[94]  In alternative terminologies, this concept of sib is called a clan.

sib : [Am] a group of persons unilaterally descended from a real or supposed ancestor; two or more lineages related by some common, mythical ancestor.[95]  Cf. clan.

sib : syb : [Sx] Sb, Br, Si; a blood relative; related by blood; a brother or sister irrespective of sex.

sib exogamy : [1000 bc-ad 2000] marriage to a partner outside one’s own sib, with a generational principle; the model of Chinese kinship.  Modern sib exogamy in Chinese kinship happens to be a later marital form that replaced previous forms, such as oblique marriage.

sib nepotism : ménfá.

sib organization : shìzú.

sib system : cóngfă.

Sibella : Sibyl.

sibi in matrimonium petere : to demand in marriage.

sibilant : [1669] having, containing, or producing the sound s or sh, or some sound that resembles these sounds.

sibilant : [1822] a sibilant speech sound in English, such as \s, z, sh, zh, ch : tsh, j : dzh\.

sibling : Sb, Br, Si; one of two or more individuals having one common parent.  Blood-related siblings include siblings-german and halfsiblings.  Stepsiblings are not necessarily related by blood.  Cf. halfsibling, stepsib­ling.

sibling group : one part of a kindred group, based on a pair of siblings.  Cf. descent group, kindred group.

siblings : Cf. mourning.

siblings : Sb, Br, Si; brothers and sisters.  A set of siblings creates the temporary group of family members known as the kindred.  Cf. kindred.

siblings with identical names : Cf. Scottish namesake conventions.

siblings-german : Sb; PaSo, PaDa; children born of the same two par­ents, the closest of blood relations with the pos­sible exception of identical twins.

siblingship : sibship.

sibling-sibling : Sb & Sb; a reciprocal relationship between siblings of either sex.

sibname : the surname shared with siblings of the whole blood.  Cf. surname.

sibship : Sb, Br, Si; siblingship; a set of blood-related siblings,[96] or fictive siblings.  The term sibship is used to distinguish two or more sets blood-related siblings, each of which has joined some other, unrelated sibship or collection of sibships, sometimes domestically and sometimes emotionally, fictively, or distantly, through the union of their respective parents.  When a marriage occurs, the respective sibships of the living children of the two spouses by their previous marriages, adoptions, and fosterships, become stepsiblings to the members or sibs of the other sibships.  When combinations arise among several divergent cases of natal parentage, adoptive or foster kinship, enfeoffment, and enslavement, we may sometimes discern several kinds of relationship, e.g. stepsibship, halfsibship, sibships-german, sibships of adoptive or foster children, enslaved or emancipated sibships, sibships in serfdom, sibships of a vassalage.

sibship intermarriage : a polygamous combination of affinal polyandry and polygyny, a symmetrical marriage arrangement in which a set of brothers marries a set of sisters, and both sets may have intercourse with any of several siblings of the opposite sex.  Such a union would result in parallel cross cousinage.  The custom prevailed among the Dene tribe in Alaska, some Iroquois and Seneca, and among the tribes Kiowa, Mandan, Omaha, Sauk, and Fox.  Cf. cross cousins.

Sibyl : a prophetess.  Cf. Fate, Themis.

sibyl : sibylla : a prophetess.

sibylocracy : [NL] rule by oracle.[97] Cf. generation, gerontocracy, kinship and order, laterality, matrism, matriarchy, sexocracy.  Opp. aristocracy.

sic : thus.  This Latin term is appended to a spelling or expression to indicate that it has been transcribed precisely as it was written, and that any irregularities or mistakes in spelling have been deliberately shown.

siccus : sound of health.

sick : [Sx] afflicted with disease or disorder; corrupted, disgusted; stomach or intestinal disorder.

sicut pater meus ante me fecit : thus my father did it before me.[98]

sid- : sed- : sess- : to sit, settle.

-sided : -gon.

Sidneus : Sidney.

siege: the act of attacking a fortress; a continued campaign to gain possession.

siegecraft : Cf. martial arts, pole vaulting.

sig.  : signetur : [Lt] mark with directions.

sigillative : sigillum [Lt] : sigillatif [Fr] : fit to seal, belonging to a seal; composed of wax.

sign : signo [Lt] : signer [Fr] : to mark, to ratify by hand or seal.

sign : signum [Lt] : signe [Fr] : a token of something, a mark of distinction or cognizance; the subscription of one’s name.

sign of prostitution : the red phalli painted on the walls of of a brothel in Rome.[99]

signa : signs of the zodiac.

signata : she was sealed.

signati  : they were sealed.

signator : signer, witness.

signature : [Ch Yuán, 1279-1368] one’s handwritten name.  The Chinese began to sign documents by hand during the Yuan dynasty, and it became customary to inscribe one’s signature in some archaic, peculiar form, so as to distinguish one’s own family branch from other branches of the family using the same surname.  Such distinctive signatures were called Yuan ya, or Yuan signs, and gradually evolved into the distinctive seal scripts, or special character styles reserved for the expression of family and personal names.  The peculiar signatures were eventually engraved upon seals made of copper, stone, or wood.  Chinese literati and artists continued to use personal seals, but seals gradually disappeared from common use in China.  Today, the Chinese tend to sign their names in ordinary script.  Cf. seal.

signature : signatura : a sign or mark impressed upon anything; stamp, mark.

signature of a diocesan bishop : his Christian name, prefixed to his see, which is sometimes written in Latin.

signature of a peer : the handwritten title of the peer, with no personal name.  Baron Stanley signs his name simply as Stanley.

signature of a peeress by marriage : her Christian name or initial, prefixed to her title by marriage.

signature of a peeress in her own right : her title only.

signature of an Archbishop or Bishop : his Christian name, prefixed to his province or see.

signature of the eldest son of a peer : the handwritten name of one of the peer’s minor titles that the eldest son has assumed as a courtesy title.  The eldest son of the Earl of Derby signed his name as Strange, signifying Viscount Strange, which was the customary courtesy title allowed to the heir apparent of the Earldom of Derby.

signatus  : he was sealed.

signer: one who signs.

signet : signette : a seal in common use provided as a sample for the king’s seal manual.

significant other : a euphemism for someone close but legally related, such as a girlfriend, boyfriend, or coresident partner.  Polite people use the phrase to invite companionate company without imposing marriage as a requisite.

signior : signore [It] : a title of respect among Italians.

signiorize : to subject, to exercise dominion over.

signiory : signoria [It] : lordship, dominion, seniority.

signs : [1603] the pictorial and symbolic designs used to mark the location of a commercial establishment.  In Tudor, Stuart, and Hanoverian times, it was customary to give directions by noting the various commercial signs that a pedestrian could see along a street.  If a letter or document happens to make some reference to the sign of an angel, dragon, hart, fox, or bell, or any other symbol which seems to have no direct relevance to the context, the reader may assume that symbol appeared on some sign marking a place, store, or shop.  Cf. bush, cupid blindfolded, garland, lattice windows painted red, orbs, pole painted red and white.

Sigyns : an Iranian people who settled along the Danube.  The women were required to kill three male enemies before marriage.  Cf. Sarmatians.

sil- : sal- : salt- : sult- : to leap.

silicernium : the initial funerary feast held at the grave site.  According to Roman custom, the silicernium was followed by an octave of mourning, a secondary feast (cena novendialis) at the grave on the ninth day after death, and a ritual purification of the house (denicalis) on the tenth day.  Cf. funerary feast, mourning, tonsure.

silk and fine linen : 12th year of marriage; symbol of the twelfth wedding anniversary.

Siluanus : Silvanus : Silas.

Silvanus : God of Gardens, lover of the beautiful youth Cyparissus.  Silvanus was a transformation of Mithra.  Cf. Mithra and the Bull.

Silvanus : the god of gardens, who loved the beautiful youth Cyparissus.  He was a heavenly transformation of the Bull slain by Mithra.

Silvanus and Cyparissus : Ph & Er; God of Gardens and his boy-lover Cyparissus.

Silvanus and Cyparissus : Ph & Er; Silvanus, God of Gardens, and his lover Cyparissus.

silver : 25th year of marriage; symbol of the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

silver piece : silver peece.  Raghet purchased a silver piece from a goldsmith “for my Mrs eyes,” in May 1578.[100]

sīmá : ssŭ ma : [Ch] three-month mourning for distant relatives ascendant or descendant.

sīmá : ssŭ ma : [Ch] three-month mourning for distant relatives ascendant or descendant.

simil- : simul- : like.

simile : a comparison by which something is illustrated or exaggerated.

similisexualism : homosexuality.

Simonides of Ceos : Simoides of Syracuse : [556-circa 467 vel 469 bc] the Dionysian devotee who added four letters to the Greek alphabet, namely Omega, Epsilon, Zeta, and Psi (Ο, Ε, Ζ, Ψ), or letters 24, 5, 6, and 23.[101]  Some say he added instead, Omega, Epsilon, Zeta, and Phi (Ο, Ε, Ζ, Φ), or letters 24, 5, 6, and 21.  Simonides was a poet closely linked to Epicharmus, and some say that Simonides tried to popularize his new letters by having Epicharmus broadcast them in his comic plays.  Cf. Oo.E.Z.Ph., Oo.E.Z.Ps.

simony : simonia [Lt] : simonie [Fr] : the crime of buying or selling church preferments.

simul- : simil- : like.

sin haber resultado ningún impedimento : [Sp] without any impediment to the resulting marriage.[102]

sin tax : a governmental fee imposed upon activity officially deemed to be sinful, such as the use of alcohol, tobacco, and a small category of assault weapons.  Sin taxes should and ought to be used sanely and deliberately, mainly to pay the costs of regulation, and should minimally offer some degree of redemption to the sinner.  In the 1980s, the American politic became vindictive and reactionary, escalating sin taxation to include property confiscation, selective abjurement of social and civil rights, life sentences, death penalties, media propaganda, and all kinds of excesses.  Cf. Sabbath year.

sin. : sine.

Sinaitic : relating to the Sinai Peninsula.  Cf. Palaio-Sinaitic.

sine : without; a preposition that customarily appears before words in the ablative case.  Opp. cum.

sine anno : s.a. : without the year.

sine gente : of low origin.

sine herede de corpore suo : without an heir of his body.[103]

sine herede masculo : without a male heir.

sine juramento : unconditionally.

sine liberis : without children.[104]  Cf. possidens sine liberis cito decessit; ubi sine liberis obiit.

sine loco : s.l. : without the place.

sine loco, anno, vel nomine : s.l.a.n. : without place, year, or name.

sine prole : s.p. : without issue, without offspring.  Cf. orbus liberis.

sine prole mascula : without male issue.

sine prole superstite : s.p.s. : without surviving issue.

single-parent family : Pa & Ch, Fa & Ch, Mo & Ch; broken family; a family with one or more children but only one parent.  Divorce is singularly the most immedi­ate cause of single-parent child rearing; however, the economic dictatorship of the white majority causes the prob­lem to be extremely high among minori­ties.

single-parent household : one-parent household.  Cf. matrifocal household, patrilocal household.

singles : people who established no family.[105]

singleman : a unmarried man.[106]

singleton : one baby born of a single birth, as opposed a multiple birth.  Cf. triplets, twins.

sinister : on the left hand; not right; corrupt, bad, perverse; unlucky, inauspicious.  The sinister point of a shield is to the left side of the bearer, but on the right side from the prospective of the spectator.  Cf. gauche, links, linkisch.  Opp. dexter.

sinister quarter : a quarter on the sinister side of a shield.

sinistre : [Fr] ominous, ill-boding.  Cf. gauche, sinister.

sinople : [Fr] originally reddish brown; now the French word for heraldic green or vert.

sinus femininus : [euphemism] vagina, womb.

sinus muliebris : [euphemism] vagina, womb.

-sio : -sionis : -sion : action, the result of action.

-sion : -sio : -sionis : action, the result of action.

Sioux : [Fr IA, SD, MT] snakes, enemies; a collective tribal name for the Oglala and Lakota.  The word is held to be a French abbreviation the Ojibwaian pejorative nadouessioux ‘snakes, enemies.’  The River Sioux runs through South Dakota and Iowa.  Cf. Lakota, Oglala.

Sioux shamans lesbian : a class of women called manly-hearted women.[107]  Cf. Cherokee shaman.

siphniázein : [Gk] insertion of one’s finger in the anus of a sexual partner.

siquis : [Lt] literally ‘if anyone,’ the first word of a notice or advertisement.  It was once the custom for a noviciate to post a public notice of his candidacy for the priesthood, inviting the declaration of any impediment or objection to his becoming a priest.  When a colonist needed to broadcast some public notice, he normally tacked his bill to the door of the courthouse.

Sir : sire : [Fr] a courtesy title that appears in compellation with the subject’s first name.  Baronets and some knights may use the title sir, and sometimes honored priests are permitted to use it.  In knighthood, an order will usually confer the title on a recipient, but not always.

Sir : [1524 En] a compellation used to honor a priest.  Few priests are created Sirs today, but the practice was fairly common in Tudor times.  Sir Richard Base of Hunstanton was apparently a priest given the priestly title Sir, and he was paid quarterly wages.[108]

sîr : swydd : [We] county, shire.

sira : lizard; penis.  Cf. saura.

sire : an animal parent.

Sire : senior : father; a term of respect said when addressing the king.  Cf. grandsire, great-grandsire.

-sis : -se : -sia : -sy : [Gk] act of.

sis. : sist. : So; sister.

sisar : [Fi] So; sister.

sisarenpoika : [Fi] SiSo; sororal nephew, sister’s son.

sisarukset : [Fi] Sb, Br, Si; brothers and sisters.

sister : Si : sis. : sist. : [Sx] soror, germana; a woman born of the same parents; a woman belonging to the same faith or sect of Christianity; chwaer [We].  Opp. brother.

sister exchange : an exchange of sisters for marriage wherein one man agrees to exchange his sister as a bride, in return for the other’s sister as a bride.  It is important to note that several kinship systems extend the term sister to include more than one category of female relative.  Cf. intermarriage.

sister exhanges over multiple generations : cross cousin marriages.

sister’s daughter’s marriage : ZD-MB marriage; SiDa-MoBr marriage; avuncular marriage.

sisterhood : a set or sibship of sisters; the office or duty of a sister; women belonging to the same convent or order.

sister-in-law : sister in law : gloris, glos; brother’s wife; the sister of a husband or wife; husband’s sister; wife’s sister.  As it was with all the in-law terms, there was no established convention for naming in-laws in the middle ages, so the names were often borrowings or inventions.  In the word gloris, we have a clear example of someone having tried to express the concept ‘my pride’ or ‘my glory.’  The Bible is completely ambiguous and contradictory with respect to a brother’s wife.  Moses himself declared the law respecting levirate marriage, requiring a younger brother to marry his widowed sister-in-law,[109] and yet other texts clearly state that it is an unlawful defilement to marry a brother’s wife.[110]  Cf. socrus.

sister-outlaw : the female lover of one’s sister; the same-sex mate of one’s sister.  Cf. inlaw, outlaw.  Opp. sister-in-law.

sister-queens : Hippolyte and Oreithyia.

sisters : Wi(1) & Wi(2); co-wives.  In some polygynous societies, the co-wives of one husband may sometimes call one another sister, especially if the husband has no natal sister.[111]

sister-wife : Isis.  Opp. Osiris.

sithe : scythe.

sitter : babysitter; one who watches a youngster or patient without sleeping.

six son : Cf. differences.

six-à-neuf : sixty-nine : 69.

sixpence : [1603] a silver coin.

sixteen-section system : Cf. alliance.

sixty-nine : six-à-neuf : soixante-neuf : 69 : the practice of reciprocal oral copulation by lying head-to-foot with a partner.[112]

skeppslag : [Sw] coastal government area.

skin disorders: psoriasis.

skipping a generation : Cf. patrilineal link.

Sklavenarbeiter : [Gm] a slave laborer in Nazi Germany (1933-1945) : a slave used until death and cared for less than even machinery or capital equipment, usually a Jew, Slav, homosexual, gypsy, or political prisoner.  Cf. slave.

Skt : Sanskrit.

slaegteregister : [Dn] pedigree.

slaughter : [Sx] massacre, destruction by the sword.

slaughterer : one employed in killing.

slave : filius famulus.  Greek and Roman slaves were allowed an education, per­mitted to own property, and able to buy their freedom.  U.S. slaves in South were forbidden by law from having an education or property, and they could not buy their freedom.  Cf. helot.

slave : praedial slave, plantation slave, chattel slave; slave laborer, Sklavenarbeiter.

slaveborn : not inheriting liberty, born into servitude.

slaveborn wife : Cf. wife.

slavery : servitude, the condition and office of a slave.  A person is made subject to the will of others through (1) capture, (2) punishment, (3) birth, or (4) sale.  Although overt forms of oppresive slavery have been abol­ished in the modern world, servitude nonetheless exists.  In Communist systems, the fear of punishment induces the population to conform.  In a so-called ‘free country’ like America, the ruling business interest class believes itself to be benevo­lent, but nonetheless controls the population (i.e. special-interest class), through propaganda.

slaves : filii famuli.

slay : [Sx] to kill, butcher, put to death.  Cf. butcher.

sleep : [Sx] repose, rest, slumber, the suspension of mental exercise and physical activity.

sleep apnia : an event during sleep wherein the throat closes and stops the flow of breath, causing an interruption in snoring.

sleeper : someone sleeping, someone not awake; something inactive and lying dormant, having no effect on the world.

sleeping customs : Cf. bed, family bed.

slut : dirty woman; a contemptuous term for a woman.

Sn. : Santo : [Sp] Saint.

snoring : the involuntary emission of noise through the nose or mouth during sleep.  Some 1 in 4 Americans happen to snore as they sleep.  Approximately 22% of women snore, whereas 36% of men snore.

So : [anthropology] son.

So : [IGI] source number.  Confer Ba, Batch Number.

soap : sapo [Lt] : Sope : [1519/9/25-10/1 Sx] any unctuous substance used in washing, such as soap made of a lixivium of vegetable alkaline ashes.[113]

soar : sparrow-hawk.[114]

sober : sobrius [Lt] : sobre [Fr] : temperate, especially in the imbibing of liquor; the state of being calm and sane rather than drunk.

sobrina : [Sp] SbDa; niece.

sobrina : PaPaSbChDa; female second cousin-german, daughter of one’s parent’s first cousin.  Cf. consobrina.

sobrina : PaSbDa; first cousin, cousin-german.[115]

sobrino : [Sp] PaSbSo; nephew.

sobrinorum et sobrinarum filii vel filiæ : PaPaSbChChCh; second cousins once removed, the sons and daughters of male and female second cousins.

sobrinus : PaPaSbChSo; male second cousin-german, son of one’s parent’s first cousin.  Cf. sororinus, con­sobrinus.

sobrinus : PaSbCh; first cousin, cousin german.[116]

sobriquet :  [Fr] fanciful or humorous appellation.

soc: soke : [Sx] jurisdiction, circuit; the place where a lord has the liberty of holding a court of his tenants and adjudicating cases brought to his attention; the monopoly claimed by a miller to grind all the corn produced by the manor on which his mill is located.

soc. : society.

soccage : soccagium : a tenure of lands in exchange for specified husbandry services that the tenant must perform for the lord of the fee.  Whereas scutage refers to the obligation to pay a knight’s fee, soccage refers any tenure exclusive of a military tenure.  Opp. scutage.

soccager : a tenant holding land of his lord by soccage.

socer : WiFa; father-in-law, wife’s father.  Very early writers, perhaps ignorant of this precise term in Latin, substituted for it ordinary kinship terms, such as soror ‘sister.’  Cf. gener, soror.

soceri : parents-in-law; father- and mother-in-law, in-laws.

socerus : socrus : mother-in-law.

socia tori : wife.

sociability gene : a gene believed to be carried by the X chromosome, for it endows females with female intuition, language abilities, and social skills.  Because women with the Turner syndrome, and men, have only one X chromosome, they seem to have language difficulties, reading problems, and socialization problems that ordinary women seldom have.  Cf. Turner syndrome.

social descent : linear or bilateral descent based upon historical ties of inheritance and succession, or upon contemporary ties formed by sex rôles, and extending beyond the limits of genetic relationship.  The social bases for fraternal or sororal organization among contemporaries, or grouping by unilineal descents, remain more powerful and enduring than any bases of genetic descent.  Cf. genetic descent, limits of genetic relationship.

social fundaments : the natural and basic instincts of life, namely motherhood and lesbianism.  A woman represents the biological foundation of life, and a man stands as nought but a mutation of a woman.  Both sexes are born of mothers, so the motherly instinct of organizing society by lateral generations, happens to be basic to everything in society and genealogy.  Opp. fatherhood, gayness, social inventions.

social inventions : the customs and institutions founded upon agism, fatherhood, gayness, sexism, and hierarchy; affiliation, affinity, ancestry, dogma, fatherhood, gayness, legitimacy, theism.  Opp. lesbianism, motherhood, promiscuity, social fundaments, social natures.

social name : [Ch] a Chinese pseudonym or alias, that an adult will use as a literary or artistic name.  Such a pseudonym cannot be used for official or business purposes, but it is often used as a personal style.[117]

social natures : motherhood, lesbianism, promiscuity.  Opp. social inventions.

social order : class system; an organizing feature of a society that divides people according to social statuses, occupations, merits, and the like, normally at the expense of the kinship system.  Class systems tend to override or supersede kinship systems.  Cf. class system.  Opp. kinship system.

social order : hierarchy; an organizing feature of a society that ranks people vertically by office.  A hierarchy might be remotely based upon some kinship system, but it tends to replace kin links with more functional measures of personal worth, such as social class, marital status, earning power, or political clout.  Cf. class system.  Opp. kinship system.

social order : kinship status and contract.[118]

social order : kinship status, the status into which the ego is born; the status derived from the family of orientation.

social order : kinship system, an organizing feature of a primitive and small-scale society that subsists mainly on agrarianism, pastoralism, hunting, and gathering.  Kinship systems tend to be replaced by social hierarchies and class systems.  Opp. class system, hierarchy.

social parent : parent social.

Social Security Trust Funds : four trusts established to provide Social Security benefits in the United States, namely Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (1940), Disability Trust Fund (1960), Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (1970), Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (1970).

societas : conjugal partnership, association, broth­erhood.

societas maris :  capital of the commenda relationship.[119]

society : societas [Lt] : societé [Fr] : community, company, partnership; a union of many under one common interest.

Society of Diana : [1370]  Cf. inquisition in Milan.

Society of Friends : Friends, Quakers.

society, Euro-American : a social order wherein each ego has a small circle of kin, and a larger circle of affines, and deems most of society to be non-kin and non-affines.

society, non-Western : a social order that might regard all humans as kin.

socius sanguinis : brother-in-law; brother, allied by relationship or marriage.

socius tori : husband, partner, companion, com­rade, associate.

söcken : [Sw] civil parish.

socman : sokeman : soccager : a tenant who holds land by soccage tenure.

socmanry : sokemanria : free tenure by soccage.

socome : the custom of tenants to grind corn or wheat at their lord’s mill.

Socrates : [obiit 399 bc] the Greek philosopher who loved most the handsome and bearded Alcibiades.  Although he was well known for his androphilia, Socrates was married and had children.[120]  He urged his students to listen to their inner voice of reason, rather than trust in mythology and religious dogma.  He was condemned to death in 399 bc.

Socrates and Alcibiades : Ph & Er; the philosopher and his lover.  The handsome Alcibiades had a full beard when the couple met, and he stayed with Socrates throughout his life.[121]

socrus : socerus : mother-in-law.  Cf. socer, soror.

socrus magna : grandmother-in-law.

sodalitas : association, brotherhood.

sodality : sodalitas [Lt] : sodalité [Fr] : association, brotherhood, fellowship, fraternity.

Sodom : the biblical city purportedly destroyed by the wrath of God for the sins of its people.  The medieval Europeans invented the term sodomy as a denotation for homosexuality and buggery, but neither the Bible nor the Qur’ân support this associated meaning.  Even the commentator Josephus followed the orthodox Old Testament and Islamic interpretation that the Sodomites were guilty of denying hospitality to visitors.  Hospitality to strangers was a vital aspect of desert life, to it was the Sodomites’ mistreatment of the visiting angels that so offended God.  The account in the Qur’ân clearly makes ‘hospitality’ the central issue of this story, not anal intercourse.  The King James Version of the Bible (1611) was the first English work to popularize sodomy in its medieval meaning, but the word had absolutely no authentic foundation in the Semitic scriptures.  Cf. sodomy.

sodomia : the carnal union of persons of the same gender.  Albertus Magnus said, in his Summa theologiae, that sodomia violated nature, and he cited Romans as his authority.[122]  Magnus further explained that sodomy was a contagious disease that was especially acute among the wealthy, and he even suggested an alzabo recipe as a cure.  Cf. alzabo.

sodomite : [1612] qadhesh, qādēsh.  A neologism invented to translate an unknown biblical term.  Cf. cinaedus.

Sodomites : Gomorrhans.[123]

sodomy : [    ] The Coutume de Touraine-Anjou required burning and property confiscation for men found guilty of bougrerie.[124]

sodomy : [    ] The Etablissements of Saint Louis stipulated that a men guilty of bougrerie be burned, and his property be confiscated by his lord.[125]

sodomy : [1233-1265 It] Metropolises in Italy commenced campaigns against heresy and sodomy as early in 1233, and the penalties of burning and property confiscation were imposed for sodomy in Siena in 1262, and in Bologna in 1265.[126]

sodomy : [1250 Nw] The law code of Gulathing in Norway stipulated that men convicted of sodomy would be permanently classified as outlaws, in the mid thirteenth century.  Iceland’s law code Grágás was based on the same model as that of Norway, and dated from the tenth century, but it contained no such proscription against sodomy, so it appears that Norway added the provision.[127]

sodomy : [1283 Fr] Coutumes de Beauvaisis made burning the penalty for persons found guilty of heresy or sodomy, in 1283.[128]

sodomy : [1350 It] Florence and Perugia established sodomy laws in the mid fourteenth century.[129]

sodomy : [1533] Henry VIII outlawed sodomy in 1533.

sodomy : [1533-1563] anal intercourse, exclusive of oral sex.  Acts of 25 Hen VIII (1533’4) and 5 Eliz I (1562’3) equated buggery and sodomy with treason, and made anal intercourse punishable by execution, and even by immolation.  Acts of oral intercourse, namely irrumation and fellation, were not included in this definition of sodomy, and therefore the charge was dismissed for an act of oral copulation in Rex v. Samuel Jacobs (1817).[130]

sodomy : [1611] a term invented in the middle ages to denote buggery, male anal intercourse, or pedico.  The word is purported to have had some connection with the sins of Sodom, but seems to have acquired that association through the imaginations of medieval scribes, and not through any linguistic ties with the story of Sodom.  Cf. Sodom.

sodomy : [1612] an inclusive term denoting any unorthodox sex act different from the frontal or missionary position between partners of opposite sex.  The word was invented by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible, to bridge a cap in their knowledge of biblical terms.  The term has never had any restrictive definition, and has therefore caused wholesale confusion wherever it has been indiscriminately used in legal statutes.  The word has no precedent and no equivalent in biblical scriptures.

sodomy : [1889] a beastly and loathsome evil.

sodomy : [circa 800] Hincmar of Reims defined sodomy as any sexual act that is nonprocreative, and he included some sexual acts with reproductive potential that are unconventional.  Hincmar said that sodomy was ‘against nature,’ and that it included any sexual release of semen with a nun, relative, wife of a relative, married woman, or animal, and any ejaculation by masturbating oneself or by other means.  Hincmar further defined sodomy as any sexual intercourse that would prevent conception, which would naturally include the use of condoms.  Cf. birth control, condom, Council of London.

sodomy : Sodomitica : [1646] forbidden sexual intercourse with Turkish, Saracen, or Jewish women.  Christians forbade all forms of cohabitation, association, and commerce with Turks, Saracens, and Jews, because such people were deemed to have ‘beastlike’ (quam bestias) reasoning, and were accused of openly condemning, repudiating, and hating the Christian faith.[131]

soeur : [Fr] sister.

softening of the brain: syphilitic or nonsyphilitic dementia; cerebral stroke or hemorrhage.  Cf. dementia.

sogn : [Nw] parish.

sogne : [Dn] parish.

Sohn : [Gm] So; son.

sojourn : sejourner : [Fr] to dwell abroad for a time, to live away from home, to inhabit temporarily.

soke : soc.

sokn : [Ic] parish.

sol- : alone.

Sol : the sun, the fourth of seven planets, which returns to the same place each year.

solar : a parcel of land given to an individual.

Solar Cycle : [Julian] 28 years; the number of years required in the Julian calendar for the days of the week to precisely match the annual dates, in the same order as before.  Cf. cycles, Metonic Cycle, Indiction Cycle.

solar year : Cf. year.

solar year-date reckonings : anomalistic year, sidereal year, solar year; the three systems used to calculate the real length of the year, which obtain different values, based on different methods.

soldier : [1596] the lowest military rank in an Elizabethan company, paid 8d per day in France.

soldier : warrior, a fighting man; a man of the line rather than a commander; a noun appended to a baptismal entry to indicate the status of the father.[132]

soldieress : a female warrior.

sole : soal, a seafish; a venable flatfish; a genus of the family Soleidae; the tasty Solea solea of Europe.  The sole lies on its side on the seabottom, and therefore has closely-spaced eyes facing upward.  It has a small mouth and small fins, and makes excellent food.  This kind of flatfish is easy to catch with sea lawers at low tide.  Cf. flounder, in-shore fishing, plaice, pokenets, sea lawers.

solicitation : a charge of sexual illegality levied against persons who openly and publicly contract to have sex with one another, without having any civil or ecclesiastical license to do so.  This allegation of sexual misconduct is commonly used against prostitutes and homosexuals, but seldom made vis-à-vis consensual heterosexuals.

solicitor : soliciteur : [Fr] one who entreats, importunes, or petitions for another.  This word was used in Chancery, whereas other courts used the term attorney.

solicitors : [1500] business agents.

solicitors : [1700] lawyers equivalent in rank to attorneys, practicing in courts of equity; [1800] a group of lawyers whose practices were regulated and taxed.

solicitors : [1900] lawyers who led other branches of the pro­fession; [1950] together with barristers, one of only 2 branches today having right of audi­ence in inferior courts.[133]

solidate : solidat : 12 acres of land.  Cf. librate.

solitaire : patience, a card game.  Cf. card games.

solitary : solitarius : living alone, retired; remote from company; gloomy, dismal.

Solon : a Greek entrepreneur who founded the first network of brothels in Athens, and used the profits to build the temple of Aphrodite Pandemos.

solstice : solstitium : tropical point, the point beyond which the sun never travels; the point on the orb at which the longest day occurs at the summer solstice about 22 June, and the shortest day occurs at the winter solstice about 22 December.  Opp. equinox.

solstice : spring solstice, about 22 June.  Cf. equinox, Gregorian Calendar.

solstice : winter solstice, about 22 December; a solar guidepost for the adjustment of lunar-solar calendars.  The winter solstice is supposed to occur on 22 December, or 10 days prior to 1 January.  If the solstice moves from 22 December, and falls on another day, e.g. 21 December, then we may anticipate that one intercalary or leap day (29 February) will soon be interpolated to adjust the Gregorian Calendar to the solar year.  Cf. Gregorian Calendar.

soltero : [Sp] unmarried.

solut- : solv- : to loosen, free.

solv- : solut- : to loosen, free.

som- : somat- : [Gk] body.

Som. : Somerset, England.

-soma : [Gk] body, corpus.

somat- : som- : [Gk] body.

somatotonia : pleasure as an exercise of function.  Cf. three components of love.

Somerset : Som. : Somersata : Somerseta : Somersetania : Somersetensis : Somertunensis Comitatus : Sumersetanea : Sumertunensis : Summurtunensis Paga.

Somerset Herald : one of six secondary heralds.

Somerset House : [1837] the centralized repository in London,[134] for all kinds of civil registrations, including births, marriages, divorces, and deaths.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a six-pence for the shoe : a familiar expression reminding a bride what items she should wear during her wedding.  Something blue normally refers to a blue garter, worn directly below the knee.  Cf. wedding dress.

somni- : sleep, hypnos [Gk].

søn : [Dn] So; son.

son : [Sw] So; son.

-son : a patronymic suffix used to form a byname, such as Gunderson.

sonnet : English sonnet, the poetic form introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt, established by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and used by Shakespeare.  The English sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet having the rhyming scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.

son : Sohn [Gm] : [Sx] So; a male born or begotten of someone; a term correlative to parent, father, or mother; a descendant of some ancestor in any degree, e.g. son of Adam.

son- : sound.

son’s son : mac mhic : [Ir] SoSo ≠DaSo; a descriptive Irish equivalent of the English classificatory term grandson.[135]

sondotter : [Sw] SoDa; granddaughter, son’s daughter.

son-in-law : [obsolete] WiSo, HuSo; stepson.

son-in-law : DaHu; gener, daughter’s husband; hijo politico [Sp], yerno [Sp].  This relationship has been irregularly and inconsistently named throughout history, so it would behoove the genealogist to compare and study the variations, as well as words used to name other in-laws, before reaching any conclusions about the equivalence or meaning of gener.  Cf. brother-in-law, gener, grandson-in-law.

son-lover : Cf. Murcia.

sønn : [Nw] So; son.

sønnedatter : [Dn, Nw] SoDa; granddaughter, son’s daughter.

sønnesøn : [Dn] SoSo; grandson, son’s son.

sønne-sønn : [Nw] SoSo; grandson, son’s son.

sønnesønsdatter : [Dn] SoSoDa; great-granddaughter; son’s son’s daughter.

sønnesønssøn : [Dn] SoSoSo; great-grandson, son’s son’s son.

sons : Cf. eldest son, mung-tsu, po-tsu, shu-tau, younger son, yu-tsu.

Sons of the American Revolution : SAR : a lineage society of men who have proved their descent from a patriot ancestor who served in the War of the American Revolution (1775-1783), headquartered in Washington, DC.  Cf. DAR.

sons’ daughter : inghean mhic : [Ir] SoDa ≠DaDa; a descriptive Irish equivalent of the English classificatory term granddaughter.[136]

sonship : filiation, the character of a son.

sonson : [Sw] SoSo; grandson, son’s son.

sonsons dotter : [Sw] SoSoDa; great-granddaughter, son’s son’s daughter.

sonsons son : [Sw] SoSoSo; great-grandson, sons’ sons’ son.

soofyism[137] : Sufi’ism.

Sope : [1519/9/25-10/1] soap.

soph- : [Gk] wise.

sōphrosynē : chastity, sobriety, restraint, self-control.

-sophy : [Gk] wisdom.

sopio : penis, the red and shameless part.

-sor : -tor : -er : doer, agent, the one who.

sorcerer : sortiarius, sortes [Lt] : socier [Fr] : conjurer, enchanter, magician.

sorceress : enchantress, a female magician.

sorcery : magic, enchantment, witchcraft, charms, conjuration.

sorella : [It] Si; sister.

soror : Si, WiMo; sister.  The term soror was sometimes used to denote one’s mother-in-law, as William Peverel used it in a Deed dated before 1147.  Vide Xenogenesis.

soror germana : Si; full sister.  Opp. half sister.  Cf. frater germanus.

soror novercæ : FaWiSi; stepaunt, sister of one’s stepmother.

soror patruelis : FaBrDa; female paternal cousin, daughter of paternal uncle.

soror vitrici : MoHuSi; stepaunt, sister of one’s stepfather.

sororal : Si : pertaining to one’s sister.  Cf. kin types.  Opp. fraternal.

sororal polygyny : Hu & Wi(1) & Wi(1)Si=Wi(2); marrying two or more sisters, either simultaneously or serially.  Chlotaire I or Lothar I (497-561) married the sisters Ingund and Aregund.  Opp. fraternal polyandry, adelphic polyandry.

sororal polygyny : two or more wives married to one husband.  The wives in a polygynous marriage are sometimes natal sisters, but are sometimes unrelated co-wives who regard themselves to be sisters for having married into the same descent group.  Cf. sororate marriage.

sororate marriage : Hu & Wi(1) & Wi(1)Si =Wi(2); a preferential marriage, the union of a widower with a sister of his deceased wife; the custom by which a man may marry one or more of sisters-in-law, especially when his first wife has died, or has proven to be barren.  A widower who marries his sister-in-law can be said to enter into sororate marriage, only if that kind of marriage already exists as a preferential or institutionalized norm in society.  The sororate marriage existed in biblical times, but was outlawed by the Christians, so most of the examples we encounter in European history should be classed as incest.  Henry Neville (1524-1563),[138] 5th Earl of Westmorland, married third Jane Cholmeley and married fourth Jane’s sister Margaret Cholmeley, and this rare example of sororate marriage once provoked an investigation of His Lordship’s sexual life.  Thus, sororate marriage is the marriage of a man to his wife’s sister, or sister-in-law, after the death of his first wife.  If the husband enters marriage to both sisters at one time, then the situation is called sororal polygyny.  Opp. levirate marriage.

sororates : sisterhoods, sororities.  Cf. Laguna sororates.

sorores : sisterhood.

sororicide : Pantaristes.

sororicide : the murder of a sister.

sororitas : sisterhood

sororius : brother-in-law, a sister’s husband; of a sister.

sororum : sisterhoods.

sororum societas : ecclesiastic society of sisters, order of nuns, nunnery, sisterhood.

sors : principal, the amount which joins one ex­pense to another.

sort : sorte : [Fr] kind, species; degree of any quality; class, an order of persons; a company or knot of people; pair, set, suit, lot.

sortilege : sortilegium : lottery, the practice of drawing lots.

søster : [Dn, Nw] Si; sister.

søsterdatter : [Dn] SiDa; sororal niece, sister’s daughter.

søstersøn : [Dn] SiSo; sororal nephew, sister’s son.

Sotadic zone : the geographical regions surrounding the Mediterranean and including Arab countries, where boy-love is supposed to flourish.[139]  Sir Richard F. Burton speculated that the warm climates of the Sotadic zone caused adolescents to mature earlier, and endowed young men with androgynous features, so he theorized that the zone gave rise to a high incidence of boy-love.[140]

soul : [Sx] spirit, vital principle; essence, quintessence; the spirit of man believed by Christians to be immaterial and immortal.

soul kiss : french kiss.

souse : [Du] pickle made of salt; anything kept parboiled in salt-pickle.  Cf. swine souse.

soused : pickled.  In our modern vernacular, soused means ‘drunk.’

souterrain : [Fr] a subterranean grotto or cavern.

Southeria : Surrey.

Southern Baptist : a petulant and hateful set of Christians who voted in 1997 to boycott the Walt Disney Company for having extended spousal benefits to gays and lesbians.  Their misogamist convention challenged some central Bible passages in 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Ruth, Matthew, and John that appear to endorse same-sex marriage, such as David partaking of Jonathan’s dowry, or Jesus the Christ in companionate relationship with John the Beloved Disciple.

Southsexena : Sussex.

sovereign : supreme lord; a gold coin called a rose-noble or double rose-noble, later fixed in value to twenty shillings.

sovereignty : souveraineté : [Fr] supremacy, the highest degree of excellence.

Sp : [anthropology] spouse; spouse of the opposite sex in a heterosexual union; spouse of the same sex in a homosexual union.  Cf. Hu, Wi; Cc, Ct; An, He; Ph, Er.

SP : [LDS] Sealed to Parents, an Ordinance.  Cf. SS, Sealed to Spouse.

Sp : Spanish.

Sp(e) : Ph, An; the older spouse in a same-sex marriage or mateship.  Cf. erastes.

Sp(y) : Er, He; the younger spouse in a same-sex marriage or mateship.  Cf. eromenos.

sp. : [LDS] sealed to parents, an LDS Ordinance.

sp. : spinster.

space : spatium : room; a time, a while; any measure of place or local extension.

space-age generation : [1945-1965] generation W.

spädbarn : [Sw] infant.

spädebarn : [Dn] infant.

span : approximately 9 inches; the space from the end of one’s thumb to the end of the extended little finger.

spandrels : the two triangular spaces above an arch, formed between the square moulding of the outermost frame and the descending curves of the arch.  The corner spandrels above an archway provide a convenient space for decoration, and are often filled with sculpted escutcheons.

Spanish flu : [1918] Cf. influenza epidemic of 1918.

sparrows and a sea dotterel : ij spowes & a seae doterell, bought for 4d at Hunstanton in the week of 1547/10/7.[141]

Sparta : a patriarchal society that exhibited some polyandry.  It acknowledged no difference between legitimate and illegitimate children.  Young daughters were never subjected to any patristical control, but were permitted to roam freely and even nakedly.[142]  The society was permissive and unrestrictive, such that older men cultivated relations with younger boys, and older women formed relations with younger girls.  An especially attractive youth was likely to have two or more suitors, who would engage in friendly competition with one another, both aiming to benefit their common love.  The Spartans prohibited heterosexual marriage before 30 years of age, and prohibited homosexual mating after 35 years of age.  Spartan marriages were visitational or duolocal.[143]

Spartus : Spurius : mothers’ sons; swamp plants created fatherlessly by an unknown planter.[144]

speaker : one who speaks or proclaims.

Speaker of the House of Commons : the prolocutor of the lower house of Parliament, who disavows his or her partisanship upon appointment.  Originally the speaker was a factor of the king, and he received handsome payments from the crown for representing and advocating the king’s will.  Today, the speaker remains politically independent of the sovereign.

Speaker of the House of Representatives : the prolocutor of the lower house of the U.S. Congress, who remains partisan after appointment.

spear : [Sx] lance, a long weapon a sharp point, used by thrusting or throwing at the enemy.

spebarn : [Nw] infant.

spec- : spic- : spect- : to look.

special interest group : [En] a deprecatory term for any group other than the ruling ‘business interest group’ in the U.S.  Special interests comprise 90% of the U.S. population, but control only 14% of the income-produc­ing assets.  The largest special interest group is ‘women’ who comprise 52% of the population.  Other groups are:  unions, blacks, gays, les­bians, native Americans, handi­capped persons, ethnic groups, etc.

special remainder : [1920]  Cf. remainder.

speciales domestici parochiani Arch Cant : p parishioners of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.  Cf. Archbishop of Canterbury, parishioners.

species : a seventh class of living beings, among at least seven orders of classification; a class more specific than genus.  If taxonomy requires additional subclasses, such may be labeled subspecies, stirps, variety, race, stock, strain, or breed.  Cf. classification, taxonomy.

species : sort, kind; a class of nature, an order of beings; a subdivision of a general term or genus.

spect- : spec- : spic- : to look.

spectator : beholder, onlooker.

spectatrix : spectatress : a female beholder or onlooker.

spell : [Sx] a charm composed of words purported to have occult powers.

spence : despence : [Fr] buttery, larder, storeroom, the place where provisions are kept.

spencer : butler, who who has charge of the spence.

spender : spendhrift, one who spends; a lavisher or prodigal.

sperm : sperma : seed, the fertilizing element that continues the species.

sperm bank : a service that freezes and stores a man’s spermatozoa for future use.  Cf. egg bank.

sperm donor : genitor.  Cf. parent genetic.

spermatozoa : the plural of spermatozoon.

spermatozoid : [1857] one male gamete of a plant motile.

spermatozoon : [1836] one motile male gamete of an animal, which usually has a round or elongated head and a long posterior flagellum.

spic- : spec- : spect- : to look.

Spider Grandmother : Keres the Thought Woman.

spider mark : mother’s mark.

spine : the visible end of a book.

spine : English-style spine; a spine that reads from the shelf upward, bottom to top.  Opp. American-style spine.

spine : Amerian-style spine; a spine the reads downward, top to bottom.  Opp. English-style spine.

spinning wheel : a wheel used to draw threads of wool from a stationary distaff; a mechanical device invented to replace the hand-held distaff with a twirling rock or ball.

spinster : s. : spr. : a woman who spins wool; a general term for a girl or maiden.  In modern usage, the word has come to signify a woman of advanced age who has never married.

spinstry : the work of spinning wool.

spintriæ : daisy chains, chains of people joined front and back in sexual unions.[145]

spir- : to breathe.

spirit : esprit : [Fr] the soul of man, an intellectual being; genius, vigor of the mind; sentiment, perception; that which has power or energy.

spirit : spiritus : breath, wind.

spiritogenesis : engendered by some spirit, instead of a corporeal seed.  Cf. adoption, fatherless son of a virgin, parthenogenesis.

spiritual libertines : [1539] members of the Free Spirit who were condemned by John Calvin in 1539.

splayed : displayed.  This adjective describes the customary placement of a window within a thick wall.  The masonry surrounding a window is usually beveled or shaped diagonally to provide a wider recess for the window casement, and the graduated recess provides additional space for the admission of light.  A window so displayed or splayed also provides a greater range of vision from the interior.

spoliata à militibus Haraldi tempore Edwardi Confessoris : despoiled by Harold’s soldiers in the time of Edward the Confessor.[146]

sponsa : spouse, wife, promised bride.

sponsa nova nupta : Wi; newly-wed spouse.

sponsal : sponsalis : relating to marriage.

sponsalis : betrothal day, the day on which the en­gagement is made.

sponsion : the act of becoming a surety.

sponsor : surety, one who makes a promise or gives security to another; a godparent at a baptism.  Cf. godparent, infans.

sponsus : spouse, husband.

spontoon: esponton : [Fr] halberd, a half-pike, a military weapon.

spooning : lying together in repose; a modern idiom comparing the posture of a resting pair to a couple of nested spoons.

sporophyll : [1888] a spore-bearing leaf, usually highly modified.

sporophyte : [1886] an individual plant or a generation of plant that represents an alternation of generations, for it bears asexual spores.  Cf. gametophyte.

sport : game, play, diversion, frolic, tumultuous merriment; a diversion of the field, such as hunting, fishing, or fowling.

sportule : sportula : alms, a dole.

Sporus : Cf. Nero and Sporus.

spotted fever : cerebro-spinal meningitis.

spousage : the act of espousing.

spousal : nuptial, conjugal, matrimonial, connubial, bridal.

spousal : sponsalia [Lt] : espousailles [Fr] : marriage, nuptials.

spouse : sponsus, sponsa [Lt] : espouse [Fr] : Sp, Hu, Wi, Cc, Ct, Ph, Er, An, He; a husband or wife, one joined in marriage to another; a mate of the same sex in a same-sex marriage or mateship.

spouseless : wanting a husband or wife.

spouses : Sp(e), Sp(y); An & He; the lesbian spouses called antianeira and hetaera, distinguished by household dutires.  The primary kin terms may be abbreviated An and He.  Cf. antianeira and hetaera.

spouses : Sp(e), Sp(y); Ph & Er; the gay spouses called philetor and eromenos, distinguished by age.  The primary kin terms may be abbreviated Ph and Er.  Cf. philetor and eromenos.

spouses of one’s cognates : MoSiHu, SiSoWi, et cetera; a class of secondary affines sometimes designated by the prefix step-, as in stepuncle, or stepniece.  Opp. primary affines.

spr. : spinster; sponsor.

spree killing : Cf. killing spree.

spring : [Sx] a fountain, a place where water issues from the earth; the source of a stream.

spring equinox : vernal equinox.  Cf. equinox.

spur : [Sx] a sharp point affixed to a horserider’s heel for pricking his horse to drive it forward.

spurious : adulterinus, falsus, false, wrong, adulterated.

spurium : [brothel slang] illegitimate children; a term of abuse.

Spurius : Spartus.

spurius : spurious, false, wrong, some invented or fictive record; illegitimate.  Confer falsus, fictus, et perversus.

spy : espion : [Fr] one sent to watch the motions and actions of others; one sent to gain intelligence pertaining to an enemy’s camp.

squad : escouade : [Fr] a company of armed men engaged in military exercises.

squadron : quadratus [Lt] : escadron [Fr] : squadrone [It] : a body of men formed into a defensive square; a small array of ships constituting a subdivision of a fleet.

square brackets : Cf. brackets.

squire : esquire, escuyer : [Fr] a gentleman next in rank to a knight; an attendant to a warrior; an attendant at court.

Sr. : [postnominal] senior.

Sr. : [pronominal] Sir.

sr. : soror : sister.

srnms. : surnames.

ss : [anthropology] same sex.  Opp. os.

ss : same-sex.  Opp. opposite-sex (os).

SS : ss. : [LDS] Sealed to Spouse, an Ordinance.

SS the letter : Z.

SS. : Santi : [It] Saints.