Definition
nounA small bag for carrying money.
nounA handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)
Sentence Examples
I had my purse and commutation ticket stolen while I was sleeping on the train.
I lost my purse on my way to school.
Oh dear! I think I've lost my purse!
Word Origin & History
From Middle English purs, from Old English purs (“purse”), partly from pusa (“wallet, bag, scrip”) and partly from burse (“pouch, bag”).
Old English pusa comes from Proto-West Germanic *pusō, from Proto-Germanic *pusô (“bag, sack, scrip”), and is cognate with Old High German pfoso (“pouch, purse”), Low German pūse (“purse, bag”), Old Norse posi (“purse, bag”), Danish pose (“purse, bag”). Old English burse comes from Medieval Latin bursa (“leather bag”) (compare English bursar), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa, “hide, wine-skin”).
Compare also Old French borse (French bourse), Old Saxon bursa (“bag”), Old High German burissa (“wallet”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And then muſt many a man occupie as farre as his purſe would reache, and ſtretche out his legges accordynge to the length of his couerlet."
— 1550, Steuen Mierdman, The market or fayre of usurers:
"Master leathercrafter does handcrafted wallets, belts, purses, handbags etc., supporting self and helpers. Good enough to carve fantst art and portraits into leather."
— 1987 August 15, Robert Benitez, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 5, page 14:
"It was a historic and a hefty battle when Myler and Percy were scheduled to don the gloves for the purse of fifty sovereigns."
— 1922 February, James Joyce, “[[Episode 12: The Cyclops]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
"When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle – that's the thing."
— 1979, Monty Python, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life:
"[…] Yidinj has just one prefix dja:- 'in the direction of' […]. There is a noun djawa 'mouth' in a number of neighbouring languages […] and it is likely that this developed into the prefix dja:-. The semantic motivation would be the fact that Aborigines typically indicate direction by pointing with pursed lips (in circumstances where Europeans would extend a hand or index finger)."
— 2002, R.M.W. Dixon, chapter 9, in Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, page 403: