bursar

[ bur-ser, -sahr ]

noun

1. a treasurer or business officer, especially of a college or university.
2. (in the Middle Ages) a university student.
3. Chiefly Scot. a student attending a university on a scholarship.

bursar

/ ˈbɜːsə /

noun

1. an official in charge of the financial management of a school, college, or university
2. a student holding a bursary

Other Words From

• under·bursar noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bursar¹

1400–50; < Medieval Latin bursārius a purse-keeper, treasurer ( bursa, -ar ² ); replacing late Middle English bouser, variant of bourser < Anglo-French; Old French borsier

Word History and Origins

Origin of bursar¹

C13: from Medieval Latin bursārius keeper of the purse, from bursa purse

Example Sentences

The entry was listed in a William & Mary bursar’s report from the 1754-55 academic year.

From Washington Post

“Well, you ought to go to the Bursar but I guess this’ll be all right,” he said, opening it and beginning to write laboriously.

From Literature

He threw a shoe at some hippies playing Hackysack outside his window; he threatened to beat up his neighbor for playing the radio too loudly; he called one of the ladies in the Bursar’s office a troglodyte.

From Literature

In 1992, Wanzo was convicted in federal courts for stealing more than $233,000 from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville while working as a secretary in the bursar’s office.

From Washington Times

After she graduated from Florida Career College in 2016, she said, she pleaded with the campus director and bursar’s office to release her transcript but was told no.

From New York Times