bursar

[ bur-ser, -sahr ]
See synonyms for bursar on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a treasurer or business officer, especially of a college or university.

  2. (in the Middle Ages) a university student.

  1. Chiefly Scot. a student attending a university on a scholarship.

Origin of bursar

1
1400–50; <Medieval Latin bursārius a purse-keeper, treasurer (see bursa, -ar2); replacing late Middle English bouser, variant of bourser<Anglo-French; Old French borsier

Other words from bursar

  • un·der·bur·sar, noun

Words Nearby bursar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bursar in a sentence

  • To add to the embarrassment, several of the few students enrolled failed to pay their fees, and the bursar could not collect them.

  • To the board of every bursar, other than those in the classes of Theology and Medicine, twenty pounds.

  • The bursar thought that Mr. Ravenshoe's plea of sobriety should be taken in extenuation.

    Ravenshoe | Henry Kingsley
  • In 1846 he was appointed Tutor of his College, and in 1848 was appointed bursar.

  • The best of them is the most recent addition, a fine tower put up in 1880 to the memory of a former bursar, Mr. Robinson.

    Oxford | Robert Peel and H. C. Minchin

British Dictionary definitions for bursar

bursar

/ (ˈbɜːsə) /


noun
  1. an official in charge of the financial management of a school, college, or university

  2. mainly Scot and NZ a student holding a bursary

Origin of bursar

1
C13: from Medieval Latin bursārius keeper of the purse, from bursa purse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012