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bursa

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word bursa

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
639–709 AD, Aldhelm
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek βύρσα
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek βύρσα
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin bursa
Italian borsa
English purse

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbʊr.sa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbur.sa][1]

Forms

bursa f (genitive bursae); first declension[1] Also spelt byrsa and birsa;[2][3][4] the classical dictionaries file it under byrsa.[5][6][7]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa, “hide, wineskin”),[1][3][2][8] a Greek word of unknown origin.[9] Etymonline treats ⟨bursa⟩ as a Late Latin variant of byrsa (“hide”).[9]

It is the source of Italian borsa, Spanish bolsa, Catalan bossa and Old French borse, modern French bourse.[1][9] Old English borrowed it as pursa, the source of English purse;[9] German Börse and Bursche also come from it.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Servius has byrsa in the sense “hide”.[6][7] Köbler's first record of bursa is Aldhelm,[4] who uses it for the fresh hide of a heifer in which a martyr was to be roasted in the sun.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From a hide the word came to mean a bag or pouch made of leather, and above all a purse.[1][2][3][9] English court records from 1199 on charge people with cutting purses.[3] From the purse it moved to the money in it and to a fund or chest kept for a purpose: French royal accounts of 1285 have bursae for the king's scholars and for the baptized,[8] and later documents use it of a distribution from a common chest, a pension and the treasury.[8][1] A statute of 1439 uses it of an unlawful association, perhaps named after its common fund.[8] It also named a reliquary bag, the case for the corporal, the bags of organ bellows, the scrotum, and the plant shepherd's purse.[2][8]

Besides purse, English later took bourse (1590s, from French) and bursar (1580s, through Medieval Latin bursārius).[9] In 1788 bursa entered English physiology, shortened from Medieval Latin bursa mūcōsa, “mucus pouch”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 400 AD – Servius uses byrsa for a hide.[6][4]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it for a heifer's hide.[2][4]
  • 1199 – An English court hears an accusation of cutting a purse.[3]
  • 1285 – French royal accounts list bursae for the king's scholars.[8]
  • 1580s – English bursar is borrowed from Anglo-Latin.[9]
  • 1788 – English bursa is used in physiology.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A hide, skin, leather.[1][2][3][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A leather bag, pouch; a purse, money-bag.[1][2][3][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A fund or chest; the treasury; a distribution from a common chest; a pension.[8][1][2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A case or bag for relics or for the corporal.[2][8][10]
  5. (Medieval Latin, anatomy) The scrotum.[2][4]
  6. (Medieval Latin, botany) shepherd's purse.[2][4]

Word family

  • bursārius
  • bursifōrmis

Usage notes

Bursa was also a Roman cognomen taken from the Greek word, borne by T. Munatius Plancus Bursa, tribune of the plebs in 52 BC.[11][7] The MLW records a separate medieval bursa, a sharp tool, possibly from Old English.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  11. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Borrowed into

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bursa.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/bursa. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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