Sterling Silver

After a while certain words just become a part of our vocabulary and we do not give them much thought. When you hear the word "sterling" you probably think about silver, but you may have also heard the word sterling used in other ways. The word sterling has a pleasant connotation, so pleasant in fact the some people have named their sons, Sterling. Something that is sterling has a good reputation. But where did this word come from? And how did something that referred to metal come to be used as a name and used as a positive adjective?

We know that the word sterling was in use in England by the 13th century. It was used to refer to the 0.925 grade of silver. In legal terms, sterling silver must to 925 parts silver and 75 parts copper. But before that, we are still not exactly sure where how the word sterling emerged.

One theory is that the "sterling" came for "Easterling." Easterling silver was the currency used in a part of Germany that was known as "The Easterling." (If you didn't know, many of the countries we consider to be united now, were once divided into many kingdoms and principalities. Often these areas had their own currency.) As these things go, with time, Eastering silver, simply became known as sterling silver.

This still doesn't exactly explain why the word sterling can also mean that something has a good reputation. But you can guess that because sterling silver was considered to be the real thing, the word sterling could be used to describe anything that was of high quality. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the use of the world sterling as an adjective to describe not only silver objects, but to describe anything that conforms to high standards did not start until the 15th century. So it took some time for sterling silver to go from mere currency to something that represented purity, great craftsmanship and excellence.

We still value sterling silver today. So if you have objects made of sterling silver, you have something that is of great quality. Should you decide to sell sterling silver, you know that a silver buyer will be happy to accept it and give you cash for silver.