purse

Etymology

From Middle English purse, 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”), from Proto-Indo-European *būs- (“to swell, stuff”), and is cognate with Old High German pfoso (“pouch, purse”), Low German pūse (“purse, bag”), Old Norse posi (“purse, bag”), Danish pose (“purse, bag”), Dutch beurs (“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”).

noun

1. A small bag for carrying money.
   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
2. (US) A handbag (small bag usually used by women for carrying various small personal items)
3. A quantity of money given for a particular purpose.
4. (historical) A specific sum of money in certain countries: formerly 500 piastres in Turkey or 50 tomans in Persia.

verb

1. (transitive) To press (one's lips) in and together so that they protrude.
   1901, Matilde Serao, The Land of Cockayne, translator not credited, London: Heinemann, Chapter IV, p. 72, https://archive.org/details/landofcockayne00seraiala The serving Sister pursed up her lips to remind him of the cloistral rule, almost as if she wanted to prevent any conversation between him and the nun.
   1916, Leonid Andreyev, "An Original" in The Little Angel and Other Stories, translated by W. H. Lowe, New York: Alfred Knopf, p. 85, https://archive.org/details/littleangelother00andriala Anton Ivanovich pursed up his lower lip so that his grey moustache pressed against the tip of his red pitted nose, took in all the officials with his rounded eyes, and after an unavoidable pause emitted a fat unctuous laugh.
   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
2. To draw up or contract into folds or wrinkles; to pucker; to knit.
3. To put into a purse.
4. (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To steal purses; to rob.