sterling

See also: Sterling

English

Etymology

From Middle English sterling, sterlinge, sterlynge, starling, of uncertain origin. Possibly from sterling (“starling”) (the bird), which at one time was stamped in quarters on 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)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɜː.lɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɝ.lɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)lɪŋ
• Homophone: Stirling

Noun

sterling (countable and uncountable, plural sterlings)

1. The currency of the United Kingdom; especially the pound.
   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “Who Stole the Black Diamonds ?”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “… among the objects stolen was the famous parure of Black Diamonds, for which a bid of half a million sterling had just been made and accepted. […]”

2. Former British gold or silver coinage of a standard fineness: for gold 0.91666 and for silver 0.925.
   • 1793, Stephen Martin Leake, An Historical Account of English Money from the Conquest to the Present Time:

     Sterling was the known and approved standard in England, in all probability, from the beginning of King Henry the Second's reign.

3. Sterling silver, or articles made from this material.
4. A structure of pilings that protects the piers of a bridge; a starling.
   • 1927, Henry Williamson, Tarka the Otter:

     The bubbles ended in another swirl by a weed-fringed sterling, and a delicate swift water-arrow shot away between the two piers of the middle arch […]

Derived terms

• penny sterling
• pound sterling

 

Translations

the currency of the United Kingdom; especially the pound

• Arabic: جنيَه إِسْتِرْلِينِيّ m

  Egyptian Arabic: جنية استرليني m (gené esterlini)

• Bulgarian: лира f (lira)
• Catalan: lliura (ca) f, lliura esterlina f
• Czech: libra (cs)
• Esperanto: sterlingo
• Finnish: punta (fi)
• Galician: libra (gl) f, libra esterlina f
• Italian: sterlina (it) f
• Japanese: 英貨 (ja) (eika)
• Malay: sterling
• Maltese: sterlina
• Polish: funt (pl) m, funt sterling m, funt szterling m, sterling (pl) m, szterling m
• Portuguese: esterlina f
• Russian: сте́рлинг (ru) m (stérling), фунт (ru) m (funt)
• Slovak: libra
• Spanish: libra esterlina (es) f
• Tagalog: esterlina
• Turkish: sterlin (tr), pound (tr)

former British gold or silver coinage of a standard fineness

• Galician: esterlina f, esterlín m
• Italian: sterlina (it) f, oro sterlina m, argento sterlina m
• Japanese: 法定純度 (hōtei jundo)

sterling silver, or articles made from this material

• Bulgarian: чисто сребро n (čisto srebro)
• Italian: argento sterlina m
• Japanese: 純銀 (jungin), スターリングシルバー (sutāringu shirubā)

Adjective

sterling (comparative more sterling, superlative most sterling)

1. (not comparable) Of, or relating to British currency, or the former British coinage.
2. (not comparable) Of, relating to, or made from sterling silver.
3. Of acknowledged worth or influence; high quality; authoritative.
   • 1896, A. E. Housman, “Terence, this is stupid stuff”, in A Shropshire Lad:

     Then the world seemed none so bad / And I myself a sterling lad

   • 2014 December 13, Mandeep Sanghera, “Burnley 1-0 Southampton”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     Southampton had been hoping to get back to winning ways to prove to their critics there was substance to their sterling start to the season.

4. Genuine; true; pure; of great value or excellence.
   • 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:

     I have said that Mr. Crawley was a stern, unpleasant man; and it certainly was so. The man must be made of very sterling stuff, whom continued and undeserved misfortune does not make unpleasant.

   • 2016 January 31, “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 21 January 2016:

     But Rodríguez says, “Neither the law nor the facts support Senator Grassley’s baseless allegations and extrapolated conclusions. It is disappointing that the senator and his staff continue to focus a politically motivated campaign on Ms. Abedin, who has been known her entire professional life for hard work, integrity, and her sterling reputation. It is people like Ms. Abedin whom we should all want in public service.”

   • 2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 53:

     HSTs continued to provide sterling service during these years, so much so that when Virgin and Midland Mainline brought their new wave of high-speed diesel electric multiple units [...] on stream, many preferred the ride and comfort of the vanquished to the ride and comfort of the vanquisher.

Translations

of, or relating to British currency, or the former British coinage

• Catalan: esterlí
• Galician: esterlino
• Portuguese: esterlino m

of, relating to, or made from sterling silver

• Catalan: esterlí

high quality

• Finnish: erinomainen (fi), korkealaatuinen (fi), laadukas (fi)

References

• Taylor, Isaac; Palmer, Abram Smythe (1968). Words and places; or, Etymological illustrations of history, ethnology, and geography. University of Michigan. Detroit, Gale Research Co.

Anagrams

• Giltners, Tinglers, glistren, ringlets, tinglers, tringles

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English sterling, from Middle English sterling, sterlinge, sterlynge, starling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɛr.liŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrliŋk
• Syllabification: ster‧ling

Noun

sterling m animal

1. Alternative form of szterling

   Synonyms: funt, funt sterling, funt szterling, szterling

Declension

Declension of sterling

	singular	plural
nominative	sterling	sterlingi
genitive	sterlinga	sterlingów
dative	sterlingowi	sterlingom
accusative	sterlinga	sterlingi
instrumental	sterlingiem	sterlingami
locative	sterlingu	sterlingach
vocative	sterlingu	sterlingi

Derived terms

adjective

• sterlingowy

 

Further reading

• sterling in Polish dictionaries at PWN