A small bag or container used for money or personal items.
A familiar word, four lives.
Greek
byrsa
‘hide, leather’
into Late Latin
Late Latin
bursa
‘ox hide’
into Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin
bursa
‘leather purse’
into Old English
Old English
pursa
‘little bag or pouch made of leather’
became Middle English
Middle English
purs
became English
English
purse
Purse reaches back through English and Latin forms to Greek byrsa, a hide. A material supplied a name for a bag made from it. The modern purse can be made from many materials while keeping that older leather association in its history.
These are selected stages, not every spelling or intermediary. The story identifies omitted links; older forms did not all disappear at once.
Names of materials often extend to objects made from them.