sterling.
An English silver penny first introduced by the Normans.
Meaning & usage
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
Short for sterling silver (“an alloy containing not less than 92.5 percent silver, the remainder usually being copper; articles made from this alloy collectively”).
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.
Where this word comes from
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).
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”).
Where this word comes from
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).
Obsolete form of starling (“a family, Sturnidae, of passerine birds; specifically, the common starling, Sturnus vulgaris, which has dark, iridescent plumage”).
Where this word comes from
See starling (etymology 1).
Obsolete form of starling (“an enclosure like a coffer-dam, formed of piles driven closely together before any structure or work, as a protection against the wash of waves, commonly used to protect the piers of a bridge”).
Where this word comes from
See starling (etymology 2).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.