1583, Philip Barrough [i.e.,Philip Barrow], “Of Making Bolus”, inThe Methode of Phisicke, Conteyning the Causes, Signes, and Cures of Inward Diseases in Mans Body from the Head to the Foote.[…] (in English), London:[…]Thomas Vautroullier[…],→OCLC, book VI,page288:
BOlvs in Engliſh is called a morſell. It is a medicine laxatiue, in forme & faſhion it is meanely whole, & it is ſwallowed by litle gobbets.[…]℞.medulla caſiæ fiſtulæ newly drawen.℥. j. orʒ. x. the graines (that is the kernelles) ofbarbaries.℈.ß. and with ſugar roſet[sugar compounded with rose petals] make a bole.
As in nombersAbſtracte, euery nomber is not a rooted nomber, but ſome certaine only emongeſt theim, ſo in nombersCoßike, all nombers haue not rootes: but ſoche onely emongeſt ſimpleCoßike nombers are rooted, whoſe nomber hath a roote, agreable to the figure of his denomination.
I am alſo aſſured by aNeighbour of mine, that aBrother of his, who is a greatCider Merchant inDevonſhire, is by frequent experience ſo well ſatisfied with the harmleſneſs of rottenApples, that he makes no ſcruple of exchanging with any one that comes to hisCider-preß, a Buſhel ofſound-apples for the ſame meaſure of theother.
After myAddreß to ourGreat Founder andPatron, I could not but think my ſelf oblig'd, in conſideration of thoſemany Ingagements you have laid upon me, to offer theſe mypoor Labours to this MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ASSEMBLY.
1665,Joseph Glanvill, chapter XXVII, inScepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science;[…], London:[…] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden[…],→OCLC,page168:
And vvhat happineſs is there in aſtorm of paſſions? On this account theScepticks affected an indifferentæquipondiousneutrality as the only means to theirAtaraxia, and freedom frompaßionate diſturbances.
Paß, a VVay, Lane, River, Leave; alſo condition.VVhat a SadPaß things are come to? In vvhat an ill State they are.That Shamm vvon'tPaß, that Trick vvwon't take.
“During what period of history did English use "ß", the "sharp s" ligature?”, inStack Exchange[1], 2 January 2013, archived fromthe original on7 May 2021
In alphabetic ordering,ß is equivalent to the stringss. For example, one would order:Maske,Maß,Masse,Maße,Massen,Maßen,Mast. The letter also alternates withss in inflections and derivatives, e.g.lassen → past tenseließ, though such cases are now fairly rare.
The current rules for the choice betweenß andss were introduced in 1996. They follow the simple principle thatss is used after short vowels andß otherwise (i.e. after long vowels and diphthongs). HenceMasse/ˈmasə/ is distinguished fromMaße/ˈmaːsə/. The earlier rules were more complicated and less phonetic. They prescribed thatß was additionally used in the syllablecoda regardless of vowel length. Thusküssen, buterküßt, andFaß, butFässer (modern spellingküsst,Fass). The older spelling has become rare, but is still used by some older language users.
In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the letterß is not used at all. SoStraße is speltStrasse, and the above distinction betweenMaße andMasse is lost in favour of the latter. This use is also often seen in Luxembourg and occasionally in South Tyrol, butß is standard in both of these areas. Moreover one encounters the same spelling in German books printed inantiqua script until the early 20th century, because an antiquaß did not yet exist. A rarer alternative was to replaceß withsz.
It is standard to replaceß withSS inall caps:STRASSE. However, in 2017 a new uppercaseẞ was introduced, so it is now also correct to spellSTRAẞE. The use of a lowercaseß (STRAßE) is sometimes seen, but is proscribed. In capitalizing a few words which would become ambiguous ifß were changed toSS,SZ may be used instead, henceMASZE (Maße) may be kept distinct fromMASSE (Masse),BUSZE (Buße) fromBUSSE (Busse).
ß on the German Wikipedia.Wikipediade