sterlina Italian · revision 39108

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1211 (as sterlino)|origins=en sterling}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /sterˈli.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sterlina''' ''f'' (plural sterline)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms are the masculine [[m|roa-oit|sterlino]], with [[m|roa-oit|isterlinio]] (Siena, 1260), and ''sterlinga''.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3631)^(Prati 1951|950)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|sterling]], the name of an English silver coin.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The feminine form comes from the phrase [[lira sterlina]], a translation of [[en|pound sterling]], with [[lira]] for the pound.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Prati 1951|950) The older masculine [[m|roa-oit|sterlino]] named the coin itself; the word had passed into [[fro|esterlin]] in the 13th century, and Zaccaria cites [[la-med|sterlingus]] and its variants from Du Cange to show that the coin and its name were English.^(DEI|3631)^(Zaccaria 1901)

+

+ The origin of the English word is uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini takes it as probably a diminutive of [[ang|steorra|t=star]], because Norman coins bore a small star.^(Nocentini 2010) Zaccaria linked it instead with [[m|en|easterling|t=eastern]].^(Zaccaria 1901) DEI, Prati and Devoto–Oli explain [[m|en|sterling]] as “of good alloy, genuine”.^(DEI|3631)^(Prati 1951|950)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''sterlino'' in a book of accounts of 1211.^(DELI 1999) 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.^(DEI|3631)^(Prati 1951|950)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase ''lira sterlina'' is dated by Devoto–Oli to 1720 and by Zingarelli to 1753;^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) Pacichelli wrote ''lire sterlinghe''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI) 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.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ 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.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003) The pound was divided into 20 shillings until the decimal system of 15 February 1971 made it 100 pence.^(GDLI) In the Kingdom of Naples ''sterlina'' was also a unit of weight, a twentieth of an ounce.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – ''Sterlino'' appears in a book of accounts.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1260 – ''Isterlinio'' is recorded at Siena.^(DEI|3631)^(Prati 1951|950)

+ * 14th century – Villani writes of ''marchi di sterlini''.^(Prati 1951|950)^(Zaccaria 1901)

+ * 1720 – ''Lira sterlina'' is recorded.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 1836 – The plural ''sterline'' appears in a translation of Cooper.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1873 – ''Sterlina'' is recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1971 – The pound is decimalised into 100 pence.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|pound sterling]], the currency of the United Kingdom, divided into 100 pence: ''Ho cambiato gli euro in sterline all’aeroporto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The currency of some other countries: ''sterlina egiziana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The Irish pound, used until the euro.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # An English gold coin with the monarch's head on one side and Saint George on the other, the [[m|en|sovereign]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

+ # ''(historical)'' A unit of weight in the Kingdom of Naples, a twentieth of an ounce.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Only in ''lira sterlina'', the pound sterling.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lira]]

+ * [[en|sterling]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}