LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“purse” in Latin

The English word purse itself goes back to Latin bursa.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

purse
sacculus; marsupium (sacculus, PROP., any little sack or bag; then = marsupium, money-bag, purse, which was only a small leathern bag, often closed by being drawn together at the mouth): crumena (money-bag, usually worn round the neck, Plaut., As., 3, 3, 67; Truc., 3, 1, 7): zona (the girdle to which a purse was fastened, or which was so folded as to serve the purpose of a purse: so, also, cingulum): loculi: area: theca nummaria (money chest): follis (any leathern bag). A full purse, marsupium bene nummatum: an empty purse, crumena deficiens (†): to put money in a purse, nummos in crumenam demittere: to empty one’s purse, exinanire: to fill it, implere (both Varr., of fish-ponds, the produce of which fills or empties the purse, according to its abundance or deficiency): to empty one’s whole purse, marsupium exenterare (comedy): to open one’s purse (i. e., to draw money out of it), thecam nummariam retegere (Cic.): out of one’s purse, e peculiaribus loculis suis (e.g., donare aliquid): privato sumtu (at one’s own cost; e.g., bellum gerere); impendio privato (to one’s own loss; e.g., fidem publicam exsolvere); de suo (e.g., numerare pecuniam); suis opibus (from one’s own resources; e.g., juvare aliquem). To consider anybody’s purse one’s own, alicujus area non secus ac mea utor: his purse is open to everybody, nulli deest res ejus familiaris: to make a purse for himself, perhaps *suo privato compendio servire; *suis rebus or rationibus consulere: they have a common purse, pecuniae conjunctim ratio habetur: a cut-purse, sector zonarius (Plaut.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for purse?
The usual Latin words for “purse” are sacculus, marsūpium, crumēna; also zōna, loculus, ārea. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.