sterling
Of or relating to the currency of the United Kingdom, or former types of English or…Of or relating to the currency of the United Kingdom, or former types of English or British coinage.
» This is genuine sterling silver dinnerware.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
6 senses(not comparable, usually)Of or relating to the currency of the United Kingdom, or former types of English or British coinage.
(not comparable, usually)Of silver: being of standard quality.
highest in quality
(not comparable, usually)Of a thing: of or relating to, or made from, sterling silver.
(comparable, figuratively, not comparable, usually)Of acknowledged influence; authoritative; also, of high or excellent quality; of proven worth.
(archaic, not comparable, usually)Of English (or (obsolete) Scottish) currency: genuine, of legal tender.
(comparable, figuratively, not comparable, obsolete, usually)Having currency (“general acceptance, recognition, or use”).
Examples
7 sentencesThis is genuine sterling silver dinnerware.
I found a sterling silver spoon.
This watch is sterling silver.
Tom is doing sterling work.
Is this sterling silver?
Це чисте срібло? — deniko
ruЭто чистое серебро? — sharptoothed
deIst das Sterlingsilber? — pne
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
From Middle English sterling, possibly from Old English *steorling, from steorra (“star”)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).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
more sterling, most sterling| Comparative | more sterling Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | most sterling Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
2 synonyms- highest in quality:greatestsuperlative
Word family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.