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bursa

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bursa¹

  • /ˈbɜːsə/ UK
  • /ˈbɝsə/ US

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa); compare purse and bourse, which are doublets.

noun bursae · bursæ

  1. Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces. A bursa over the anterior aspect of the upper end of the tibia, between the patellar tendon and the tubercle of the tibia, is sometimes enlarged, and may be mistaken for synovitis of the joint.
  2. A diverticulum on the cloaca of young birds, which serves as a lymphatic organ and as part of the immune system, but which atrophies as the bird ages. The general relations of the bursa to the cloaca are shown in the two accompanying figures.
  3. Any of various pouchlike organs for storing semen prior to copulation in the male or for receiving semen in the female. That portion of the dilated vas deferens which lies outside the cavity of the genital bursa is called the external seminal vesicle .
  4. A parament about twelve inches square in which the folded corporal is kept in for reasons of reverence. In solemn mass the deacon brings the book of the Missal to the side of the epistle, then goes backward behind the celebrant; the sub-deacon, indeed, goes to the gospel side, where he cleanses the chalice, fits it with the purifacatory, covers it with the paten and pall, folds the corporal, replaces

Bursa²

Where it comes from

From Turkish Bursa, from Ottoman Turkish بورسه (Brusa), from Medieval Greek Προῦσα (Proûsa), from Ancient Greek Προυσίας (Prousías, “Prusias”) + -α (-a). Doublet of Prusa.

proper noun

  1. A province and metropolitan municipality in northwestern Anatolia Turkey, on the Sea of Marmara.
  2. A city, the capital of Bursa Province, Turkey.

    Similar: Prusa

Translations

Every language

name city in Turkey

中文布爾薩 /布尔萨 Bù'ěrsà
ΕλληνικάΠρούσα Proúsa
РусскийБу́рса Búrsa
العربيةبُورْصَة būrṣa

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MLA

"bursa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bursa. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bursa. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bursa

Chicago

"bursa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bursa.

BibTeX
@misc{bursa_2026,
  title = {bursa},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bursa},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}