Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper.

Fine silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing large functional objects, and in Sterling the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give strength while preserving the ductility of the silver and a high precious metal content. Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating firescale, and increasing resistance to tarnish. These replacement metals include germanium, zinc, platinum as well as a variety of other additives including silicon and boron. A number of alloys claiming firescale and/or tarnish resistance have appeared in recent years sparking heavy competition between the various manufacturers and their different formulations. No one alloy has emerged as an industry leader or standard and ongoing alloy development is a very active area.

The term "Sterling Silver," in reference to the .925 grade of silver, emerged in England by the 13th century.

The terms "sterling" and "pound sterling", seem to have acquired their meaning over a while, and from several convergent sources. The first mention is that of "sterilensis" in 1078, and by the thirteenth century (the 1200s) the term sterling had appeared. "Sterling" is believed to come from the Old Norman French esterlin (meaning little star) and Old English stiere (strong, firm, immovable).

The 1955 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary states that the early Middle English name sterling was presumably descriptive of small stars that were visible on early Norman pennies. (Old English: steorling.) Although marks of birds have been used in some coins of Edward the Confessor, sterling is not likely to have been derived from starling, as the word for starling at the time was spelt stær; if the coin had been named after the bird, it would have been shortened to starling.

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