‖ bourse
(burs, bʊəs)
[a. F. bourse in same sense, literally ‘purse’. The form burse was in regular use from c 1550 to c 1775, when it became obsolete; bourse is a re-adoption of the word from modern French, as an alien term.]
An exchange, or place of meeting for merchants; the money-market (of a foreign town). Used esp. of the French institution corresponding to the Stock Exchange in London.
| [1597 Bp. Hall Sat. vi. i, Trampling the bourses [ed. 1599 burses] marble twice a day.] 1845 Disraeli Sybil (1863) 45 With the exception of..some sombre mansions, a dingy inn, and a petty bourse, Marney mainly consisted of a variety of narrow..lanes. 1861 Motley Dutch Rep. II. 289 It was a common subject of discussion on the Bourse at Antwerp. 1885 Standard 10 Apr., An arbitragist..is a person who speculates between two Bourses by the help of a partner or confrère in Paris or Berlin. |