borsa Italian · revision 38399

+ Italian has two nouns spelled ''borsa'': the bag, from Late Latin, and the stock exchange, named after a merchants' house in Bruges.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT give them separate headwords.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ {{homograph|1|bag, purse}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 13th century, Ugo di Perso|origins=grc βύρσα}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbor.sa/, [ˈbor.d͡za]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''borsa''' ''f'' (plural borse)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|borza]], [[roa-oit|borscia]], [[roa-oit|borxa]] and [[roa-oit|bursa]].^(TLIO) In central and southern Italy the pronunciation ''borza'' prevails.^(GDLI)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bag is [[inh|la-lat|bursa]] (late 4th century), written ⟨byrsa⟩ in learned spelling, [[der|grc|βύρσα|tr=búrsa|t=hide, leather; wineskin]], an obscure technical word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|8, 264)^(Wiktionary) Already in Medieval Latin the word had most of its modern senses: a leather sack (8th century), a bag for money, a sum of money, a grant, and terms of anatomy and botany.^(DELI 1999) The LEI holds that the sense “leather bag” must already be Latin, although it is first recorded in the 8th century.^(LEI|8, 264)

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+ The word continues in all the Romance languages: [[dlm|buarsa]], [[fur|borse]], [[rm|buorsa]], [[fr|bourse]], [[oc|borsa]], [[ca|borsa]], [[es|bolsa]], [[pt|bolsa]] and [[sc|bussa|alt=bússa]].^(LEI|8, 264)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Meyer-Lübke adds [[ro|boarsă|t=scrotum]], with an unexpected vowel.^(REW 1935) The LEI sets apart a central Italian type ⸢borša⸣, already reflected in the gloss [[la-lat|byrseus|t=of leather]].^(LEI|8, 264)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Cremonese poet Ugo di Perso, of the early 13th century;^(TLIO)^(LEI|8, 264)^(DELI 1999) DELI's first record of the sense “bag” is the ''Novellino'', at the end of the 13th century, and Medieval Latin ''bursa'' is recorded in Emilia from 1206.^(TLIO)^(LEI|8, 264)^(DELI 1999) In the ''Novellino'' a figure is dressed “con ricca cintura e borsa” (with a rich belt and purse), and in the purse is a letter.^(GDLI|2, 318)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the bag was above all a purse for money, and the word soon meant money itself: Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, already has the sense “money”, and the TLIO records the proverb ''È meglio doglia in borsa che doglia in petto'' (better pain in the purse than pain in the heart).^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Dante writes “in una borsa gialla vidi azzurro, / che d'un leone avea faccia e contegno” (on a yellow purse I saw blue, which had the face and bearing of a lion).^(GDLI|2, 318) Tuscan statutes used the word for a bag holding sealed objects and the slips used for drawing lots.^(TLIO)

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+ From the 14th century the word named sac-shaped parts of the body, in particular the scrotum.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The plant ''borsa di pastore'' (shepherd's purse) is named for the shape of its fruit, like the little bag in which a shepherd keeps salt for his animals; the half-Latin ''borsapastoris'' is in Florio in 1598.^(DELI 1999) Other senses followed: the liturgical burse holding the corporal (1714), the grant called ''borsa di studio'' after [[fr|bourse]] (Italian 1890, plain ''borsa'' 1886), the water or ice bag (''borsa dell'acqua'', ''del ghiaccio'', 1949), and the purse of a boxing match (1953).^(DELI 1999) Among the derivatives, ''borsetta'' is in Boccaccio and took the sense “lady's handbag” in Verga in 1880, ''borsellino'' is in Sacchetti, and ''borsaiolo'' “pickpocket” is first recorded before 1665.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1206 – Medieval Latin ''bursa'' is recorded in Emilia.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Early 13th century – Ugo di Perso of Cremona has the first Italian record.^(TLIO)^(LEI|8, 264)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses the word for “money”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * End of the 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses ''borsa'' “purse, bag”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The word is used in anatomy for a sac-shaped part, especially the scrotum.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''borsetta''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1598 – ''Borsapastoris'' “shepherd's purse” appears in Florio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1890 – ''Borsa di studio'' appears in a decree.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bag]], especially of leather or fabric, for carrying money, papers or personal things; a [[m|en|handbag]]: ''Ha dimenticato la borsa sul treno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Money, means: ''pagare di borsa propria'' (to pay out of one's own pocket).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''borsa di studio'': a [[m|en|scholarship]], a grant to a student or researcher.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A sac-shaped structure, a [[m|en|bursa]]; the pouch of a kangaroo.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chiefly in the plural)'' Bags under the eyes.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A bulge in worn clothing: ''Quei pantaloni fanno le borse alle ginocchia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(botany)'' The swelling of a branch that bears the fruit.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(boxing)'' The [[m|en|purse]], the sum agreed for each fighter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(liturgy)'' The burse, the square case in which the corporal is kept.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[borsetta]]

+ * [[borsellino]]

+ * [[borsello]]

+ * [[borsetto]]

+ * [[borsone]]

+ * [[borsaiolo]]

+ * [[borseggiare]]

+ * [[borseggio]]

+ * [[borseggiatore]]

+ * [[borsata]]

+ * [[borsista]]

+ * [[imborsare]]

+ * [[esborsare]]

+ * [[esborso]]

+ * [[sborsare]]

+ * [[rimborsare]]

+ * [[rimborso]]

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+ {{homograph|2|stock exchange}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing, eponym|attested=1567, Lodovico Guicciardini}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbor.sa/, [ˈbor.d͡za]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''borsa''' ''f'' (plural borse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The stock exchange is, in Nocentini's and Devoto–Oli's view, [[bor|fr|bourse]], which entered Italian in the 17th century.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The explanation of the name goes back to Lodovico Guicciardini (1567): “Borsa” (“Van der Beursen”) was a noble family of Bruges whose arms showed three purses; their house gave its name to the square in front of it, where merchants met, and the merchants then gave the same name to the squares of Antwerp and other towns where they traded.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|165)^(GDLI) DEI and Gabrielli make the family the Venetian merchants “Della Borsa”, whose name became Dutch “Van der Burse”;^(DEI|569)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Prati 1951|165)^(GDLI) Prati and the GDLI add that the house lodged Venetian merchants from the 14th century.^(DEI|569)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Prati 1951|165)^(GDLI)

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+ Some scholars objected that the phrase “moneta communiter in bursa currens” is found at Liège in 1252 and in Brabant in 1290, but DELI does not think the objection strong enough to drop the traditional account, which Albert Henry checked against archive documents in 1953.^(DELI 1999) The word is ultimately the same as the bag, [[borsa#1]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(REW 1935)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record of the sense is Lodovico Guicciardini's ''Descrizione di tutti i Paesi Bassi'' (1567), which describes the exchange of Antwerp as built on the model of that of Bruges;^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999) French ''bourse'' in this sense is of the same period.^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999) DELI and GRADIT date the Italian word to Gabriello Chiabrera, before 1638.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Antwerp took the name from Bruges, the French took it to Toulouse (an edict of 1549 favours the merchants of the Toulouse ''bourse''), and the English to London.^(Prati 1951|165) DEI holds that the word became general after the building of the Bourse de Paris in 1719.^(DEI|569) Tommaseo's dictionary (1865) has the sense “building where the exchange is held”.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ''Borsista'' “speculator” is recorded in 1796, earlier in French.^(DELI 1999) Around 1940 ''borsa nera'' meant the clandestine trade in currency and securities, perhaps a calque of [[de|schwarze Börse]]; in the war it became the black market in rationed goods, and ''borsanera'' is recorded in 1942.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The phrases ''borsa merci'' (1955) and ''borsa valori'' (1965) followed.^(DELI 1999) By extension the word is used for any market, such as the transfer market for footballers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1252 – ''Moneta communiter in bursa currens'' is recorded at Liège.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1549 – An edict of Henry II favours the merchants of the Toulouse ''bourse''.^(Prati 1951|165)

+ * 1567 – Lodovico Guicciardini describes the ''borsa'' of Bruges and Antwerp.^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1638 – Gabriello Chiabrera uses the word.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1719 – The Bourse de Paris is built and the word becomes general.^(DEI|569)

+ * 1796 – ''Borsista'' “speculator” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Borsanera'' “black market” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(often capitalised)'' The [[m|en|stock exchange]], the public market, under state control, where shares, securities and goods are traded: ''giocare in borsa'' (to play the market).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The trend of trading on the exchange: ''Oggi la borsa ha chiuso in calo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The building where trading takes place.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # By extension, any market or exchange of goods, such as the transfer market for footballers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''borsa nera'': the [[m|en|black market]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[borsanera]]

+ * [[borsanerista]]

+ * [[borsino]]

+ * [[borsistico]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la-lat|bursa]]

+ * [[fr|bourse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}