ster·ling / ˈstərling/ • n. British money: prices in sterling are shown | [as adj.] issues of sterling bonds. ∎  short for sterling silver: [as adj.] a sterling spoon. • adj. (of a person or their work, efforts, or qualities) excellent or valuable: this organization does sterling work for youngsters.

sterling English silver penny of Norman and later dynasties XIII; (genuine) English money XVI; adj. in pound s. etc. (for earlier pound of s—s of English money) applied to lawful or standard money XV; of standard or excellent quality XVII. Recorded earlier in OF. esterlin (XI or XII), medL. sterlingus, libræ sterilensium ‘pounds of sterlings’ (XII); plausibly referred to late OE. *steorling, f. steorra STAR + -LING1, some of the early Norman pennies bearing a small star.

sterling British money. Recorded from Middle English, the word probably comes from steorra ‘star’ + -ling (because some early Norman pennies bore a small star). Until recently one popular theory was that the coin was originally made by Easterling moneyers (from the ‘eastern’ Hanse towns), but the stressed first syllable would not have been dropped.

sterling Term for British currency. It is used to distinguish the UK pound from those of other currencies and can also be used to describe the quality and standard weight of coins. The sterling silver mark on silver (the stamp of a lion passant) represents a purity of more than 90%.