Pound (currency): Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

As a unit of currency, the term pound originates from the value of a Troy pound weight (Latin libra), of high purity silver, and is the currency unit of a number of countries:

• Cyprus
• Egypt
• Gibraltar
• Lebanon
• Malta
• Syria - see Syrian pound
• United Kingdom - see Pound Sterling

It is also the name for the (former) currency of the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Pound, replaced by the Euro in 1999.

The symbol for the pound, particularly with respect to the pound sterling legal tender in the UK and her possessions, is a script capital letter L pierced horizontally with an endash or an equal: £.

The same £ symbol was used in Italy and the Republic of Ireland for the cognate lira and the Irish pound respectly, before the Euro was introduced in these countries (although in recent times the official symbol for the Italian Lira has been a capital L).