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bur·sa

(bûrsə)

n. pl. bur·sae (-sē) or bur·sas

A sac or saclike bodily cavity, especially one containing a viscous lubricating fluid and located between a tendon and a bone or at points of friction between moving structures.

[Late Latin, purse, pouch, from Greek, skin, wineskin.]

bursal adj.

Bur·sa

(bûrsə, br-sä)

A city of northwest Turkey west of Ankara. It dates from the third century BC and was a capital of the Ottoman Turks in the 1300s.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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