Etymograph

English

sterling

Sterling comes from Middle English sterling ‘an English silver penny’, from Old English steorra ‘star’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s- ‘to burn, glow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eh₁s-1‘to burn, glow’disputed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗr2‘star’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sternǭ2‘star’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sterrō2uncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150steorra3‘star’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*steorling3uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterling3‘an English silver penny’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1564sterling3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English steorra
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sterling
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1564, Erasmus, The Saiynges of Augustus Caeser: “Nummus […] is taken for braſſe pens, or els…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eh₁s-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr‘to burn, glow’disputed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗrWiktionary, Old English steorra‘star’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sternǭWiktionary, Old English steorra‘star’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sterrōWiktionary, Old English steorrauncertain
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150steorraWiktionary, English sterling‘star’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*steorlingWiktionary, English sterlinguncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterlingWiktionary, English sterling‘an English silver penny’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1564sterlingWiktionary, English sterling. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1564, Erasmus, The Saiynges of Augustus Caeser: “Nummus […] is taken for braſſe pens, or els…”

The story

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).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s- ‘to burn, glow’

constellation, stellate, 19 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’

disaster, stellar, stella, asteroid, astral, asterisk, aster, 24 more

through Old English steorra ‘star’

star

Today it means

noun An English silver penny first introduced by the Normans.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sterling”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr, Old English steorra. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s- / sterling

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