bursar
Americannoun
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a treasurer or business officer, especially of a college or university.
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(in the Middle Ages) a university student.
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Chiefly Scot. a student attending a university on a scholarship.
noun
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an official in charge of the financial management of a school, college, or university
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a student holding a bursary
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bursar
1400–50; < Medieval Latin bursārius a purse-keeper, treasurer ( see bursa, -ar 2); replacing late Middle English bouser, variant of bourser < Anglo-French; Old French borsier
Explanation
A bursar is the head of a college's financial office. When you pay your tuition for the semester, you'll send the money to the bursar. Colleges, universities, and private schools have bursars, who are responsible for the finances of the school. The bursar's job might include balancing the books, sending bills to students and their families, and receiving payments. You could also call the bursar the controller or the treasurer. The word comes from the Medieval Latin bursarius, "purse-bearer," from bursa, or "purse."
Vocabulary lists containing bursar
The Vocabulary of College
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I Will Always Write Back
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The Secret History
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He is now Fellow and Bursar of King's, his old college.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last week baffled Bursar Lebohner drove his wife and daughter to New York, planned to see them off for Florida, where he hoped a long vacation would make Dorothy forget her "teenage infatuation."
From Time Magazine Archive
Announcing that the shortage is covered by bond, Bowdoin's President Kenneth Charles Morton Sills last week declared Bursar Thalheimer "relieved of his duties."
From Time Magazine Archive
Bursar Machray had been reported in need of money to cover his brokers' loans.
From Time Magazine Archive
“No shoving there now!” shouted the Deputy Sub- Bursar in a fury.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
