sterlina

Forms

sterlina f (plural sterline)^[1] Older forms are the masculine sterlino, with isterlinio (Siena, 1260), and sterlinga.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English sterling, the name of an English silver coin.^{[2][6][7][8][9]} The feminine form comes from the phrase lira sterlina, a translation of English pound sterling, with lira for the pound.^{[10][11][8][4]} The older masculine sterlino named the coin itself; the word had passed into Old French esterlin in the 13th century, and Zaccaria cites Medieval Latin sterlingus and its variants from Du Cange to show that the coin and its name were English.^[3][12]

The origin of the English word is uncertain.^[2][7] Nocentini takes it as probably a diminutive of Old English steorra (“star”), because Norman coins bore a small star.^[6] Zaccaria linked it instead with easterling (“eastern”).^[12] DEI, Prati and Devoto–Oli explain sterling as “of good alloy, genuine”.^[3][4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is sterlino in a book of accounts of 1211.^[2] DEI and Prati add isterlinio in a Sienese text of 1260, and Villani reckons in marchi di sterlini, marks of sterlings, in the 14th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The phrase lira sterlina is dated by Devoto–Oli to 1720 and by Zingarelli to 1753;^[8][10][5] Pacichelli wrote lire sterlinghe.^[8][10][5] The plural sterline, beside sterlini, is recorded in 1836 in a translation of a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, and the singular sterlina in Tommaseo's dictionary in 1873.^[2]

The word also named the gold coin with the monarch's head and Saint George and the dragon, first struck in 1816 according to the GDLI and in 1817 according to GRADIT.^[5][7] The pound was divided into 20 shillings until the decimal system of 15 February 1971 made it 100 pence.^[5] In the Kingdom of Naples sterlina was also a unit of weight, a twentieth of an ounce.^[7][13]

Timeline

• 1211 – Sterlino appears in a book of accounts.^[2]
• 1260 – Isterlinio is recorded at Siena.^[3][4]
• 14th century – Villani writes of marchi di sterlini.^[4][12]
• 1720 – Lira sterlina is recorded.^[8]
• 1836 – The plural sterline appears in a translation of Cooper.^[2]
• 1873 – Sterlina is recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary.^[2][7][6]
• 1971 – The pound is decimalised into 100 pence.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom, divided into 100 pence: Ho cambiato gli euro in sterline all’aeroporto.^[7][8][14]
2. The currency of some other countries: sterlina egiziana.^[7][8][9]
3. The Irish pound, used until the euro.^[7]
4. An English gold coin with the monarch's head on one side and Saint George on the other, the sovereign.^[7][5]
5. (historical) A unit of weight in the Kingdom of Naples, a twentieth of an ounce.^[7][13]

Adjective

1. Only in lira sterlina, the pound sterling.^[10][13][8]

Related words

• lira
• English sterling

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3631
4. ^ a b c d e f Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 950
5. ^ a b c d e f g Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse