BOURSE, a Continental term for a stock exchange, derived from French usage, and first used for the Paris exchange. The derivation is from Med. Lat. bursa, a purse. The English form, "burse," as in Sir Thomas Gresham's building, which was known as "Britain's Burse," went out of use in the 18th century. The origin of the name is doubtful ; it is not derived from any con nection between purse and money, but rather from the use of a purse as a sign. At Bruges a house belonging to the family de Bursa is said to have been first used as an exchange, and to have had three purses as a sign on the front.