Other forms: purses
A purse is a small bag for money — coins, notes, cards, the folded receipt you keep meaning to throw away. In Britain it is the little zip-up thing that lives inside a handbag; in America a purse IS the handbag.
That split catches people out in both directions, so learn it once. Purse also means money in general: the public purse is government money, and the purse for a boxing match is the prize the winner takes. As a verb, you purse your lips — press them into a tight little circle, the face of someone who disapproves and will not say so. Hold the purse strings means to control what gets spent. And a wallet is the flat one for notes and cards; a purse is where the coins go.
1nounpurseA small bag for carrying money, especially coins, in British English.~26%
“She dug through her purse for the right coins.”
2nounhandbagA woman's handbag, in American English.~13%
“He left her purse hanging on the back of the chair.”
3nounsumA sum of money available to be spent, or the prize money in a sporting contest.~59%
“The winner's purse was two million dollars.”
4verbpressTo press your lips tightly together into a small circle.~2%
“She pursed her lips and read the letter again.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 16 sentences found in the wild and placed 15 of them on a sense (1 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
purse is a small bag.
Also accepted in games: handbag
Purse is two bags that grew together. Old English pusa was a wallet or bag, from Proto-Germanic *pusô; beside it sat burse, from Medieval Latin bursa, a leather bag, itself from Ancient Greek βύρσα, a hide or wine-skin. Old English purs took a little from each, and the Greek skin is still visible in bursar, the one who keeps the money.
Ancient Greek
βύρσα — hide, wine-skin
Medieval Latin
bursa — leather bag
Proto-Germanic
*pusô — bag, sack, scrip
Proto-West Germanic
*pusō
Old English
purs — purse
Middle English
purs
English, today
purse
Built from
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 puse (“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 (“hide, wine-skin”). Compare also Old French borse (French bourse), Old Saxon bursa (“bag”), Old High German burissa (“wallet”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA