Webster's 1828 Dictionary
BURSE
n.burs. 1. A public edifice in certain cities, for the meeting of merchants to consult on matters of trade and money, and to negotiate bills of exchange. This is the name used in many cities in Europe, but in England and America, such building is called an exchange. The new Burse in Paris is one of the most elegant buildings in the city.
2. In France, a fund or foundation for the maintenance of poor scholars in their studies. In the middle ages, it signified a little college, or a ball in a university.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
BURSE
Burse, n. Etym: [LL. bursa, or F. bourse. See Bourse, and cf. Bursch, Purse. ]
1. A purse; also, a vesicle; a pod; a hull. [Obs. ] Holland.
2. A fund or foundation for the maintenance of needy scholars in their studies; also, the sum given to the beneficiaries. [Scot. ]
3. (Eccl.)
Defn: An ornamental case of hold the corporal when not in use. Shipley.
4. An exchange, for merchants and bankers, in the cities of continental Europe. Same as Bourse.
5. A kind of bazaar. [Obs. ] She says she went to the burse for patterns. Old Play.
New American Oxford Dictionary
burse
burse |bərs bərs | ▶noun a flat, square, fabric-covered case in which a folded corporal is carried to and from an altar in church.
Oxford Dictionary
burse
burse |bəːs | ▶noun 1 a flat, square, fabric-covered case in which a folded corporal cloth is carried to and from an altar in church. 2 ( the Burse ) historical the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, London. Compare with bourse. ORIGIN late Middle English (in sense ‘purse ’): from French bourse or medieval Latin bursa (see bourse, bursa ).
Duden Dictionary
Burse
Bur se Substantiv, feminin früher , die |B u rse |zu mittelhochdeutsch burse = Beutel, Kasse < mittellateinisch bursa, Börse [aus einer Stiftung errichtetes und unterhaltenes ] Haus, in dem Studenten wohnen und Kost erhalten
The Wordsmith Dictionary