Meanings
plural pounds sterling · alternative GBP · alternative £
- The currency of the United Kingdom.
Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.
1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547Synonyms: pound[Appendix:Glossary, quid, nicker, sov
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; equal to 100 pence
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
The basic unit of currency in medieval England was the silver penny or sterling, weighing ¹⁄₂₄₀ of a tower pound. 240 of these coins made a "pound of sterlings". This term (shortened to "pound sterling" in later usage) continued to be used for a sum of 240 pence even after the sterling had ceased to circulate. The modern pound sterling is equivalent to 100 new pence.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جُنَيْه, جُنَيْه إِسْتَرْلِينِيّ
- جُنَيْه (junayh)currency of the UK
- جُنَيْه إِسْتَرْلِينِيّ (junayh ʔistarlīniyy)currency of the UK
Bulgarian брита́нска ли́ра
- брита́нска ли́ра (británska líra)currency of the UK
Chinese Mandarin 英鎊 /英镑
- 英鎊 /英镑 (Yīngbàng)currency of the UK
Czech libra, britská libra
- libracurrency of the UK
- britská libracurrency of the UK
- libra šterlinkůcurrency of the UK
Danish britiske pund, pund
- britiske pundcurrency of the UK
- pundcurrency of the UK
Dutch pond sterling, pond
- pond sterlingcurrency of the UK
- pondcurrency of the UK
Estonian naelsterling
- naelsterlingcurrency of the UK
Finnish punta, Englannin punta
- puntacurrency of the UK
- Englannin puntacurrency of the UK
French livre sterling
- livre sterlingcurrency of the UK
German Pfund Sterling, Pfund
- Pfund Sterlingcurrency of the UK
- Pfundcurrency of the UK
Greek λίρα στερλίνα
- λίρα στερλίνα (líra sterlína)currency of the UK
Hebrew לירה שטרלינג, ליש״ט
- לירה שטרלינגcurrency of the UK
- ליש״טcurrency of the UK
Hindi पाउंड स्टर्लिंग, पाउंड
- पाउंड स्टर्लिंग (pāuṇḍ sṭarliṅg)currency of the UK
- पाउंड (pāuṇḍ)currency of the UK
Hungarian font sterling
- font sterlingcurrency of the UK
Icelandic breskt pund, pund
- breskt pundcurrency of the UK
- pundcurrency of the UK
Indonesian paun
- pauncurrency of the UK
Irish punt steirling
- punt steirlingcurrency of the UK
Italian lira sterlina
- lira sterlinacurrency of the UK
Japanese ポンド
- ポンド (pondo)currency of the UK
Korean 파운드
- 파운드 (paundeu)currency of the UK
Latvian sterliņu mārciņa
- sterliņu mārciņacurrency of the UK
Lithuanian svaras sterlingų
- svaras sterlingųcurrency of the UK
Norwegian Bokmål britisk pund, pund
- britisk pundcurrency of the UK
- pundcurrency of the UK
Persian پوند استرلینگ
- پوند استرلینگcurrency of the UK
Polish funt, funt sterling
- funtcurrency of the UK
- funt sterlingcurrency of the UK
- funt szterlingcurrency of the UK
- sterlingcurrency of the UK
- szterlingcurrency of the UK
Portuguese libra esterlina
- libra esterlinacurrency of the UK
Romanian liră sterlină
- liră sterlinăcurrency of the UK
Russian фунт сте́рлингов, фунт
- фунт сте́рлингов (funt stérlingov)currency of the UK
- фунт (funt)currency of the UK
Scottish Gaelic punnd sasannach
- punnd sasannachcurrency of the UK
Slovak libra, britská libra
- libracurrency of the UK
- britská libracurrency of the UK
- libra šterlingovcurrency of the UK
Spanish libra esterlina
- libra esterlinacurrency of the UK
Swedish pund
- pundcurrency of the UK
Thai ปอนด์
- ปอนด์ (bpon)currency of the UK
Turkish İngiliz sterlini
- İngiliz sterlinicurrency of the UK
Ukrainian фунт сте́рлінгів
- фунт сте́рлінгів (funt stérlinhiv)currency of the UK
Vietnamese bảng Anh
- bảng Anhcurrency of the UK
Cite this entry
pound sterling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pound%20sterling
“pound sterling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pound%20sterling. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pound sterling,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pound%20sterling.
Source: pound sterling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.