sterling

Pronunciation: /ˈstɜːlɪŋ/

The English word “sterling” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

An English silver penny first introduced by the Normans.
A penny issued in other countries, such as Scotland.
The currency of the United Kingdom, also called the pound sterling
Former British gold or silver coinage of a standard fineness (0.91666 for gold and 0.925 for silver).
Synonym of pennyweight (“a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, or ¹⁄₂₀ of a troy ounce”)
Money generally.
The standard degree of fineness.

adjective

Of or relating to the currency of the United Kingdom, or former types of English or British coinage.
Of silver: being of standard quality.
Of a thing: of or relating to, or made from, sterling silver.
Of English (or (obsolete) Scottish) currency: genuine, of legal tender.
Of acknowledged influence; authoritative; also, of high or excellent quality; of proven worth.
Having currency (“general acceptance, recognition, or use”).

Etymology

From Middle English sterling, possibly from Old English *steorling, from steorra (“star”) and -ling, in reference to the stars that appeared on certain English pennies. Alternatively, the first element may be *stēre, meaning “strong” or “stout” (compare the etymology of solidus).

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “sterling” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.