- stater (n.)
- ancient coin, late 14c., from Greek stater, from histanai "to fix, to place in a balance," hence "to weigh;" literally "to cause to stand," from PIE root *stā- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (see stet). Once the name of a specific issue of coin, in ancient Greece it became a general name for the principal or standard coin in any place.
