DS
Abbreviation with 9 meanings
| Stands for | Discharge summary |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 9 |
| Categories | Medical, Military, Writing & Everyday, Technology & Computing, Texting & Internet Slang, Arts & Entertainment, Science & Engineering |
| Also written | D.S., Ds |
DS has nine meanings. The most common are Discharge summary (medical documentation) and Drill sergeant (military term); it can also stand for Double strength, Detective Sergeant, Data science, Dear son and Dal segno, plus 2 more listed below.
Meanings of DS at a glance
| # | DS stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discharge summary | Medical › Medical Documentation |
| 2 | Drill sergeant | Military › Military Term |
| 3 | Double strength | Medical › Pharmacy |
| 4 | Detective Sergeant | Writing & Everyday › Title and Honorific |
| 5 | Data science | Technology & Computing › Data & Database |
| 6 | Dear son | Texting & Internet Slang › Parenting Forum |
| 7 | Dal segno | Arts & Entertainment › Music |
| 8 | Downstage | Arts & Entertainment › Film, Television and Theater |
| 9 | Darmstadtium | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
1. Discharge summary
Medical · Medical Documentation Abbreviations
Document summarizing a hospital stay for the next caregiver: reason for admission, key findings, procedures, hospital course, condition at discharge, medications, pending results and follow-up plans.
Example: DS sent to PCP; pending biopsy result flagged for follow-up.
A timely, clear discharge summary reduces errors after discharge, and many hospitals track how quickly summaries reach primary care. Medication changes should be stated explicitly as new, changed or stopped. In other fields DS can mean Down syndrome, an unrelated meaning.
2. Drill sergeant
Military · Military Term Abbreviations
Army NCO who trains soldiers in basic combat training and one station unit training, wearing the campaign hat, nicknamed the "brown round," as a symbol of the role.
Example: The DS gave the platoon two minutes to get into formation with all their gear.
Drill sergeants complete the Drill Sergeant Academy at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Selection for the duty is competitive, and many senior NCOs list it among their most demanding assignments. The Air Force calls the equivalent role military training instructor (MTI), and the Marine Corps drill instructor (DI).
3. Double strength
Medical · Pharmacy Abbreviations
Suffix on products containing twice the standard strength, most famously trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole DS (Bactrim DS), which contains 800 mg sulfamethoxazole and 160 mg trimethoprim per tablet.
Example: Bactrim DS 1 tab PO BID x 3 days for uncomplicated cystitis.
The single-strength (SS) tablet contains half as much (400/80 mg). Prescribing "Bactrim" without DS or SS forces a pharmacy call. Other DS products have included Naprosyn and some antacids. In hospital records DS more commonly means discharge summary.
4. Detective Sergeant
Writing & Everyday · Title and Honorific Abbreviations · also used in government
Detective rank in British policing above detective constable and below detective inspector, often supervising a small team of investigators. The title appears in UK news reports and court proceedings.
Example: DS Kerr said officers were still trying to trace the driver of a silver hatchback.
Sergeant is the first supervisory rank in British policing. Detective sergeants often play the junior partner in TV detective pairings, such as Sergeant Lewis in Inspector Morse. American departments with a similar post more often write Det. Sgt.
5. Data science
Technology & Computing · Data & Database Abbreviations
The field that combines statistics, programming and domain knowledge to extract insights and build predictive models from data. Data scientists clean data, run experiments such as A/B tests and train machine learning models.
Example: The DS team owns the churn model, and product decides how the predictions are used.
The job title was popularized around 2008 by DJ Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher, who led data teams at LinkedIn and Facebook, and a 2012 Harvard Business Review article called data scientist "the sexiest job of the 21st century". DS also abbreviates the job title itself. In gaming, DS is Nintendo's handheld console.
6. Dear son
Texting & Internet Slang · Parenting Forum Abbreviations
Forum shorthand for the poster's son, often numbered by age order, as in "DS1 is 8 and DS2 is 5." Common on Mumsnet, BabyCenter and parenting subreddits.
Example: DS2 refuses to wear anything except his dinosaur pajamas.
Numbering children (DS1, DS2, DD1) keeps posts anonymous while making family stories easy to follow. Outside parenting forums, DS is best known as the Nintendo DS handheld console, released in 2004.
7. Dal segno (D.S.)
Arts & Entertainment · Music Abbreviations
Instruction to repeat from the segno sign, a stylized S with a slash and two dots, rather than from the beginning. Often combined as D.S. al Coda or D.S. al Fine.
Example: After the bridge, take the D.S. al Coda and skip to the outro.
Italian for "from the sign". Pop and jazz charts use D.S. markings to compress repeated choruses onto fewer pages. The coda sign, a circle with a cross, marks where to jump.
8. Downstage
Arts & Entertainment · Film, Television and Theater Abbreviations
Part of the stage closest to the audience. Directors call blocking such as "cross DS" to bring an actor toward the front.
Example: Blocking: Marie crosses DS left and faces the audience for the monologue.
The terms come from raked stages, which sloped upward away from the audience, so moving toward the audience meant moving "down". Combined directions include DSL and DSR. In engineering DS can mean many other things.
9. Darmstadtium (Ds)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
Darmstadtium (atomic number 110) is a superheavy element expected to behave like platinum, the metal above it in group 10. It was first produced in 1994 by fusing lead and nickel nuclei, and its isotopes last seconds or less.
Example: Each Ds atom was identified by its chain of alpha decays into known lighter nuclei.
Sigurd Hofmann's team at GSI in Darmstadt, Germany, observed the first atoms on November 9, 1994. IUPAC approved the name in 2003, after the city that hosts the laboratory, whose state had already lent its Latin name to hassium. Before naming, element 110 was called ununnilium (Uun) under IUPAC's systematic placeholder scheme.
Related abbreviations
More medical documentation abbreviations
- D/C – Discharge
- DAR – Data, Action, Response
- DDx – Differential diagnosis
- DOE – Dyspnea on exertion
- Dx – Diagnosis
- EHR – Electronic health record
- EMR – Electronic medical record
- ETOH – Ethanol (alcohol)
See all 79 medical documentation abbreviations →
More military term abbreviations
- DI – Drill instructor
- DMZ – Demilitarized zone
- DOR – Date of rank
- DOW – Died of wounds
- DTG – Date-time group
- DUSTWUN – Duty status whereabouts unknown
- DZ – Drop zone
- EAS – End of active service
See all 248 military term abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.