£

Etymology
From the first letter of. The symbol is derived from the mediaeval tradition of placing a stroke over a or letters of a word (in this case L) to indicate an abbreviation; when letters have ascenders like L, the stroke frequently passes through that ascender. £ is thus cognate with the, which was similarly derived from lb with a stroke through the ascenders.

Symbol

 * 1) pound sterling
 * 2) various other currencies called pound or lira.

Derived terms
The practice of placing a stroke through the initial of the name for a currency as a symbol for that currency has been extended to other currency symbols, including several shown below.