different between wonderful vs sterling

English

Alternative forms

• wonderfool (eye dialect), woonderful (eye dialect), wonderfull (archaic), wondreful (obsolete), wondrefull (obsolete), 1drfl (internet slang)

Etymology

From Middle English wonderful, wondirful, from Old English wundorful (“wonderful”), from Proto-West Germanic *wundrafull, equivalent to wonder +? -ful. Cognate Dutch wondervol (“wonderful”), German wundervoll (“wonderful”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?n.d?.fl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?n.d?.fl?/
• Rhymes: blunderful

Adjective

wonderful (comparative wonderfuller or wonderfuler or more wonderful, superlative wonderfullest or wonderfulest or most wonderful)

1. Tending to excite wonder; surprising, extraordinary.
   • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 278:

     He is massively corrupt. It is wonderful how the man's popularity survives.

2. Surprisingly excellent; very good or admirable, extremely impressive.

   They served a wonderful six-course meal.

Synonyms

• (excellent, extremely impressive): great, amazing, astonishing, incredible, marvelous, fantastic, frabjous, mint
• See also Thesaurus:wonderful
• See also Thesaurus:excellent

Antonyms

• (excellent, extremely impressive): terrible, horrible

Translations

Adverb

wonderful (not comparable)

1. (dialect) Exceedingly, to a great extent.

Related terms

• women are wonderful effect
• wonder
• wonderfully
• wonderland
• wonderment
• wondrous

Anagrams

• underflow, wondreful

English

Etymology

From Middle English sterling, sterlinge, sterlynge, starling, of uncertain origin. Possibly from sterling (“starling”) (the bird), which at one time was engraved on one quarter of the coin; or perhaps from Middle English sterre (“star”) + -ling (as in shilling), as some Norman coins presumably featured stars on them.

For the UK currency gloss, the term is a contraction of esterling, referring to eastern merchants from Baltic towns who established a bullion weight standard for transactions.(Taylor and Palmer, 1968)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?st??(?).l??/
• Rhymes: -??(r)l??

Noun

sterling (countable and uncountable, plural sterlings)

1. The currency of the United Kingdom; especially the pound.
2. Former British gold or silver coinage of a standard fineness: for gold 0.91666 and for silver 0.925.
   • S. M. Leake

     Sterling was the known and approved standard in England, in all probability, from the beginning of King Henry the Second's reign.

3. Sterling silver, or articles made from this material.
4. A structure of pilings that protects the piers of a bridge; a starling.

Translations

Adjective

sterling (comparative more sterling, superlative most sterling)

1. (not comparable) of, or relating to British currency, or the former British coinage.
2. (not comparable) of, relating to, or made from sterling silver.
3. Of acknowledged worth or influence; high quality; authoritative.
4. Genuine; true; pure; of great value or excellence.
   • 2016 January 31, "Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?," Vanity Fair (retrieved 21 January 2016):

     But Rodríguez says, “Neither the law nor the facts support Senator Grassley’s baseless allegations and extrapolated conclusions. It is disappointing that the senator and his staff continue to focus a politically motivated campaign on Ms. Abedin, who has been known her entire professional life for hard work, integrity, and her sterling reputation. It is people like Ms. Abedin whom we should all want in public service.”

Translations

References

• Taylor, Isaac; Palmer, Abram Smythe (1968). Words and places; or, Etymological illustrations of history, ethnology, and geography. University of Michigan. Detroit, Gale Research Co.

Anagrams

• Giltners, Tinglers, glistren, ringlets, tinglers, tringles