means A small bag or pouch for carrying money and personal belongings, or — by extension — a sum of money offered as a prize.

from From Old English 'purs,' borrowed from Late Latin 'bursa' meaning 'hide' or 'leather bag,' which itself came from Greek 'byrsa,' an animal skin — the original purses were literally pouches of leather. That same Greek root branches out generously: it's the cousin of 'bursar' (the keeper of the college purse), 'reimburse' (to put back into the purse), and even 'bourse,' the French word for stock exchange — a marketplace where everyone's bursa is on the line.