BOURSE (from the Med.

See also:

• LAT

Lat. bursa, a

See also:

• PURSE (Late Lat. bursa, adapted from Gr. Gupta, hide, skin; possibly O. Eng. pusa, bag, has influenced the change from b to p)

purse)  , the French equivalent of the Stock Exchange, and so used of the Paris Exchange, or of any foreign money-market . The English form " burse," as in Sir Thomas Gresham's building, which was known as " Britain's Burse," went out of use in the 18th century, The origin of the name is doubtful; it is not derived from any. connexion between purse and money, but rather from the use of a purse as a sign . At Bruges a house belonging to the family de Bursa is said to have been first used as an Exchange, and to have had three purses as a sign on the front .