sterling

Meanings

Noun

• The currency of the United Kingdom; especially the pound.
• Former British gold or silver coinage of a standard fineness: for gold 0.91666 and for silver 0.925.
• Sterling silver, or articles made from this material.
• A structure of pilings that protects the piers of a bridge; a starling.

Adjective

• of, or relating to British currency, or the former British coinage.
• of, relating to, or made from sterling silver.
• Of acknowledged worth or influence; high quality; authoritative.
• Genuine; true; pure; of great value or excellence.

Origin

• From Middle English sterling, sterlinge, sterlynge, starling, of uncertain origin. Possibly from sterling , which at one time was engraved on one quarter of the coin; or perhaps from Middle English sterre ("star") + -ling (as in shilling), as some Norman coins presumably featured stars on them.
• For the UK currency gloss, the term is a contraction of esterling, referring to eastern merchants from Baltic towns who established a bullion weight standard for transactions. (Taylor and Palmer, 1968)