pound sterling
noun
- See pound1
pound
1 (pound)
[Middle English, from Old English pund, from West Germanic* punda-, from Latin (lībra) pondō, (a pound) by weight.]
noun
- A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces (453.592 grams).
- A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces (373.242 grams).
- A unit of weight differing in various countries and times.
- A British unit of force equal to the weight of a standard one-pound mass where the local acceleration of gravity is 9.817 meters (32.174 feet) per second per second.
- The basic monetary unit of the United Kingdom, worth 20 shillings or 240 old pence before the decimalization of 1971. Also called pound sterling
- A basic unit of currency in Egypt and Syria.
- The primary unit of currency in Ireland before the adoption of the euro.
- A monetary unit of Scotland before the Act of Union (1707). Also called pound scots
- The pound key on a telephone.
