STERLING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Sterling

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/stˈərlɪŋ/ Listen

noun

Sterling n. (Engin.) Same as Starling, 3.

Sterling n.

Any English coin of standard value; coined money. "So that ye offer nobles or sterlings." "And Roman wealth in English sterling view."

A certain standard of quality or value for money. "Sterling was the known and approved standard in England, in all probability, from the beginning of King Henry the Second's reign."

adjective

Sterling adj.

Belonging to, or relating to, the standard British money of account, or the British coinage; as, a pound sterling; a shilling sterling; a penny sterling; now chiefly applied to the lawful money of England; but sterling cost, sterling value, are used. "With sterling money."

Genuine; pure; of excellent quality; conforming to the highest standard; of full value; as, a work of sterling merit; a man of sterling good sense.

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Etymology of 'Sterling'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sterling" Quotes from Famous Books

... of our country. I have equipped this ship, I have devoted my fortune to this undertaking, I shall devote to it my life and yours, but this flag shall float over the North Pole. Fear not. You shall receive a thousand pounds sterling for every degree that we get farther north after this day. Now we are at the seventy-second, and there are ninety in all. Figure it out. My name will be proof enough. It means energy and patriotism. I am ...

— The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras • Jules Verne

... him by the back-spaul in a minute of time—and yet the damage canna amount to mair than a creelfu' of coals, and a forpit or twa of saut; and here is a chield taks leg from his engagement, and damages me to the tune of sax thousand punds sterling; that is, three thousand that I should win, and three thousand mair that I am like to lose; and you that ca' yourself a justice canna help a poor man to catch the rinaway? A bonny like justice I am ...

— Redgauntlet • Sir Walter Scott

... hand, to have a morning glass; and the next moment the fog settled down again upon that part, as brown as umber, and cut him off from his blackguardly surroundings. This was the home of Henry Jekyll's favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling. ...

— Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

... real penance for him to walk far. There's really something pathetic about this, or would be were Caspian only a little less bumptious than he is, for if gossip tells the truth, the millionaire of to-day was once one of those sterling socialists who began their career to fame walking the king's highway with bare feet and their spare clothes tied up in their one handkerchief. (How awkward if they had ...

— The Lightning Conductor Discovers America • C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel)

... post during the colonial wars. General Abercrombie was defeated here, with the loss of 1941 men, in 1758. Burgoyne was here. We then passed Crown Point, where the British Government expended two millions sterling. We met the Burlington steamer, the most neat and beautiful boat in the United States: were introduced to Captain R.W. Sharman, the beloved commander. This is halfway—an important town of 3000 people. It is the seat of the University of Vermont, as we are now in that state. We then ...

— Journal of a Voyage across the Atlantic • George Moore

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