‖ bursa
(ˈbɜːsə)
Pl. bursæ.
[med.L. bursa bag, purse, a. Gr. βύρσα hide, wine-skin.]
1. Phys. (more fully bursa mucosa): ‘A synovial sac of discoidal form interposed between muscles, tendons, or skin, and bony prominences, for the purpose of lessening friction’. Syd. Soc. Lex. 1880. Some of these are constant, some only occasional.
| 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 69 While engaged in dissecting the bursæ mucosæ of the human body, I discovered two new bursæ on the knee. 1811 Hooper Med. Dict. 131/2 A bursa of the superior oblique muscle of the eye. 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 175 When a bursa has formed it may inflame or suppurate. 1880 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v., The occasional bursæ are generally developed as the result of unusual friction. |
2. See quot. (Cf. burse 7.)
| 1852 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. 407 In Germany..the name of Bursa was given to houses inhabited by students, under the superintendence of a Graduate in Arts. |