pursern.
/ˈpəːsə/, U.S. /ˈpərsər/ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of containers or receptacles > [noun] > maker of purses
purse-maker1456
purser?1518
purse-sewer1905
1272 Close Rolls Edward I 549 (MED) Johannes le Pursere.
1344 in W. H. Black Hist. & Antiq. Worshipful Company of Leathersellers (1871) 32 (MED) Thomas Godale, porsere.
1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 38 Lyon the pursser [Fr. bourssier] Hath pursses and pauteners.
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.vjv Sylke women, pursers, and garnysshers.
a1525 Coventry Leet Bk. 479 Joh. Smyth..Taillour; Joh. Denton..laborer;..Will. Banburgh..purser.
1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Journall (new ed.) iii. sig. Q5 [In reference to the defunct university of Stamford] Where be thy Masters? Fellows? Scholers? Bursers? O Stamford! to thy shame, they'r all turn'd Pursers.
2.
a. An officer on board a ship responsible for provisions and for keeping accounts, or (in later use more generally) for various other administrative matters; (now) esp. the head steward on a passenger vessel.In the British Royal Navy the purser was originally the officer in charge of provisioning the ship, but not the paymaster of the crew (who were paid at the end of the voyage or commission). In 1825, by Act 6 Geo. IV, c. 18, a portion of the wages of the crew was permitted to be paid to them monthly, and the duty of making these payments was assigned to the purser, who in 1842 was officially designated ‘Paymaster and Purser’. In 1852 the title was changed to ‘Paymaster’, and the officer's duties in regard to money transactions on board ship were largely extended. In modern passenger ships, the purser is the head of the stewards' department, and is in charge of the passengers and their comfort and requirements, as well as supervising financial matters such as currency exchange on board.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > purser
purser1445
pusser1866
pound-and-pint idler1867
sea-grocer-
1445 in 5th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS: Pt. 1 (1876) App. 528 in Parl. Papers (C. 1432) XL. 1 Delivered to Richard Hughelot, mariner, pursere of the said ship of the town of Lyde, 6li. 3s. 4d.
1486 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 21 Also paid..William Peny then Pursor of the same ship for the vittell of the said..marriners for a weke.
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 14 The owners maisters and pursers of Englyshe shyppes.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. iii. 5/1 The factor and the purser haue no pay but only their chambers, that is below vnder hatches.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. viii. 34 A man of Warre hath onely a Purser.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 29 Aug. (1970) III. 181 I..did begin tonight..to look into the nature of a pursers account and the business of victualling.
1701 Piracy Destroy'd 11 The Sea-men have suffer'd either through the Purser's carelesness, or coveteousness [sic], by not providing wholsom Victuals and enough of it, or defrauding them of their due.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. ii. 136 Our former Purser had neglected to take on board large quantities of several kinds of provisions.
1797 J. Butler Fortune's Foot-ball I. 74 I'll speak to the purser for pen, ink and paper for you; and when I go ashore to night, I'll clap it in the post-office.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy III. xii. 240 An old friend of his, a purser in the navy, who lived at Southsea.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Purser, a kind of cabin steward or providore in a passenger ship.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Victualling-book, a counterpart of the ship's open list, which is kept by the purser, to enable him to make the necessary entries in it.
1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 3 The purser took the last landing card..and watched the passengers cross the grey wet quay.
1958 N. Coward Diary 25 May (2000) 379 The moment we had sailed the purser installed me in a luxury double [cabin] on the top deck.
1995 Tradewinds (St. John, Virgin Islands) 30 Jan. 4/1 Ferry service employees from deck hand to purser.
b. gen. A person given charge of money and accounts; a treasurer, a bursar. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > [noun] > one who has charge of or manages money
hoarder944
treasurerc1290
purse-bearerc1300
coffererc1330
pursera1450
boucherc1450
bowgerc1450
purse-masterc1450
thesaurer1473
expenditor1499
bowser1534
bursarya1552
bursar1587
stock-keeper1589
bag-bearer1598
bourser1685
sumptuary1789
money manager1874
investment manager1879
tizzy-snatcher1914
a1450 York Plays (1885) 225 (MED) Of his penys purser was I [sc. Judas], And..The tente parte þat stale I ay still.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 294 A Purser, bursarius.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 259/2 Purser, boursier.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra iii. xxi. 181 Rich Men are but God's Pursers, they do but carry the Bag, and what is put therein, for publick uses.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Bowser, the Purser or Treasurer of a College in a University.
1745 J. Henley New Decisive Dissertation 8 in Coup de Grace (ed. 4) The Purser [1745 (ed. 1) Burser] or Treasurer of a College is said to be under more strict Engagements of this kind, than even the Senior Fellows.
1816 G. Muir Clydesdale Minstrelsy 2 To rouse the clerk and purser wi' their sang.
2003 Irish Examiner 2 Sept. 10/3 She then concocted ‘a web of vicious deceit and falsehoods’, trying to blame her former friend and one-time college purser,..who was later cleared.
c. In Cornwall: the treasurer or cashier of a mine, esp. of one worked on the cost-book principle. Now archaic and historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > [noun] > one who has charge of or manages money > others
almonera1400
purser-general1633
eleemosynary1656
Town's Husbanda1749
camerlengo1753
purser1814
1814 J. Taylor in Trans. Geol. Soc. London 314 Some mines have the conduct of their affairs more divided, by the financial part being entrusted to a purser.
1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall xv. 566 In the generality of mines the purser is the chief officer.
1846 C. G. Addison Treat. Law Contracts (1883) i. i. §1 103 In mining companies carried on on the cost-book principle..the shareholders..are not liable upon bills..drawn..by the purser..of the company.
1873 Timothy Towser 23 The Pusser would lend us a handsome subsist.
1971 S. Howatch Penmarric (1972) iv. iii. 421 I was sitting..in my hut near the count house and trying to sift through a mountain of paperwork which the purser, Walter Hubert, had said wasn't truly ‘within his province’.
d. On an aircraft: (originally) a member of the crew responsible for ordering provisions, keeping records, etc.; (now chiefly) a flight attendant, esp. one who manages the cabin crew or has other additional responsibilities.
ΚΠ
1936 Ironwood (Mich.) Daily Globe 11 Apr. 1/8 Members of the crew which took the airliner..were..Radio Operator John W. Taylor; Purser Ralph W. Kerr..[etc.].
1963 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 16 Oct. 32/1 Mr. Haag is a purser for Trans World Airlines.
1982 J. Wain Young Shoulders vii. 77 One of the aircraft personnel,..the Purser or something like that,..started to herd us all on.
2004 Evening Standard (Nexis) 30 Sept. 11 The women..had worked for the airline long enough to qualify as pursers.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > pickpocket or cutpurse > [noun]
pickpursec1385
pursepick?a1513
purse-picker1549
nipper1585
nip1591
purser1640
1640 ‘Ben-Arod Gad’ Wandering-Jew 60 All Executors that rob Orphans of their portions, are Theeves, and deserve more to be hang'd then a Purser.
1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 64 An Atturneys Clarke, who comming along with his Master by Stanegate-Hole, (or the Pursers prize)..went over into the Thicket adjoyning.
4. Chiefly Shetland.
a. A fishing boat that uses purse nets.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > fishing vessel > [noun] > using purse-net
purse boat1871
purser1961
1961 Listener 24 Aug. 269/1 The use of these pursers was forbidden in the cod waters of Lofoten.
1971 Stornoway Gaz. 10 July 3/5 Over the past two weeks, a succession of large Norwegian pursers have been visiting the port, some to land purse nets for repairs.
1999 J. R. Nicolson Shetland Fishermen iv. 60 By the end of October the pursers were heading for Cornwall.
b. A fish caught in a purse net.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > caught in specific types of net
seine-fish1603
purser1973
1973 Stornoway Gaz. 27 Jan. 1/1 The quality of the ring-net herring was mixed to very poor and soft, and the pursers very poor and soft.
Compounds
purser-general n. now historical a person having overall charge of a body of pursers, or of finances throughout a district or service.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > [noun] > one who has charge of or manages money > others
almonera1400
purser-general1633
eleemosynary1656
Town's Husbanda1749
camerlengo1753
purser1814
1633 Consultation 5 Apr. in W. Foster Eng. Factories in India, 1630–1633 (1910) 298 Thomas Turner..is to succeed Joyce as Purser-General and Member of Council.
1657 T. Maynard Let. 26 Mar. in Coll. State Papers J. Thurloe (1742) VI. 118 If somebody were joined with the purser-generall by an order from his highnesse,..there would be much money saved.
1676 Consultation 3 Nov. in Jrnl. & Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal (1918) 14 14 The Purser Generall or paymaster at Hugly..to take charge of all expenses in the Factory.
1925 J. R. Tanner Mr. Pepys 176 On November 8, 1664, Mr. Lever the purser-general sent Mrs. Pepys ‘a pair of silver candlesticks’.
purser's crab n. British Navy slang (now rare) a uniform boot.
ΚΠ
1913 T. T. Jeans John Graham, Sub-Lieutenant R.N. 18 ‘Now for the purser's “crabs”!’ the Model gurgled, when I'd..produced a pair of service pattern boots.
1924 G. H. A. Willis Royal Navy as I saw It 83 Modern ships with wire hawsers instead of ropes, and iron decks and ladders, conduce to the wearing of shoes or ‘purser's crabs’.
purser's dip n. Nautical slang (now historical) a small dipped candle.
ΚΠ
1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. viii. 231 I was down in one of the wings, reading by the light of a purser's dip—vulgo, a farthing candle.
1927 P. Riley Mem. 89 Each mess being allowed a few small candles, known as ‘Purser's dips’, to last the week.
1994 P. O'Brian Commodore (1996) iii. 85 One, a dark, fierce-looking man sitting on the deck trying to read by a purser's dip.
purser's name n. Nautical slang (now historical) a false name under which a sailor is entered on the books of a ship.
ΚΠ
1828 Night Watch II. 82 Tom, when he was impressed into his Majesty's service, had taken the ‘purser's name’ literally ‘un nom de guerre’ of Thomas Call, in which his warrant as boatswain was subsequently made out... Mr. Call's name, however, was in reality Thomas Whistle.
1847 H. Melville Omoo 232 Some, to be sure, had for the sake of formality, shipped under a feigned cognomen, or ‘Purser's name’.
1871 Overland Monthly Feb. 165/2 Even his real name we did not know, as ‘Jack Breeze’..was evidently a ‘purser's name’, assumed for the voyage.
1970 P. O'Brian Master & Commander (new ed.) x. 264 ‘Mr. Dillon, who have we aboard that speaks Italian? John Baptist is an Italian.’ ‘And Abram Codpiece, sir—a purser's name.’
1986 P. O'Brian Reverse of Medal ii. 48 A few men asserted that they had shipped under a purser's name to avoid debt or a bastardy order.
purser's shirt n. Nautical slang (now rare) only in a purser's shirt on a handspike: used as the type of something very ill-fitting.
ΚΠ
1795 R. Cumberland Henry III. viii. iii. 134 You, with that lank carcase, for all the world like the purser's shirt upon a hand-spike.
1810 J. Moore Post-Captain v. 23 There is nothing of him left but ribs and trucks. His coat fits him like a purser's shirt upon a handspike.
1898 Outing July 389/2 A cruising craft with a slovenly or slatternly owner may, perhaps, be content with a suit of sails that fits like a purser's shirt on a handspike.
1942 T. H. Raddall His Majesty's Yankees vi. 50 Wearing his ill-fitting leadership like a purser's shirt on a handspike.
Derivatives
ˈpursership n. the position or office of purser.
ΚΠ
1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. E4v Ile haue the purse for a-yeere, you the Hat..& when my pursourship ends, ile resigne, and cap you.
1774 H. Kelly Romance of Hour ii. 31 Demure as she seems to be, it shall go hard if I do not get the pursership of the Rising Sun by her means.
1888 Times 18 Sept. 15/1 A gentleman..who has held the position of ship's clerk and purser in large passenger steamers for many years, is desirous of obtaining an appointment on shore..or would be willing to take a pursership.
1927 H. Kemp Bronze Treasury 289 The success of ‘The Shipwreck’ procured Falconer an appointment to the pursership on The Royal George.
1998 J. Talbott Pen & Ink Sailor ii. 23 He was a man with a large family and small prospects. Nothing recommended him for pursership.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1272