What does "bursa" mean?
Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces.
Bursa
/ˈbɝsə/ name, noun
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces.
- Grammar: bursa is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: brusa, fluid-filled sac, sac, synovial sac.
- Useful contrasts: dry tissue, solid tissue.
- Usage evidence: Bursitis is a painful inflammation of a bursa. A bursa is a small sac of fluid that cushions the bones, tendons, and muscles that are located near your joints.
How to use "bursa"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bursa" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bursa" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bursa" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bursa" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bursa" is acting as name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "brusa" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of the many small fluid-filled sacs located at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across bone. These sacs serve to reduce friction between the two moving surfaces.
"A bursa over the anterior aspect of the upper end of the tibia, between the patellar tendon and the tubercle of the tibia, is sometimes enlarged, and may be mistaken for synovitis of the joint."
- 2 a small fluid-filled sac located between movable parts of the body especially at joints wordnet
- 3 A diverticulum on the cloaca of young birds, which serves as a lymphatic organ and as part of the immune system, but which atrophies as the bird ages.
"The general relations of the bursa to the cloaca are shown in the two accompanying figures."
- 4 Any of various pouch-like organs for storing semen prior to copulation in the male or for receiving semen in the female.
"That portion of the dilated vas deferens which lies outside the cavity of the genital bursa is called the external seminal vesicle ."
- 5 A parament about twelve inches square in which the folded corporal is kept in for reasons of reverence.
"In solemn mass the deacon brings the book of the Missal to the side of the epistle, then goes backward behind the celebrant; the sub-deacon, indeed, goes to the gospel side, where he cleanses the chalice, fits it with the purifacatory, covers it with the paten and pall, folds the corporal, replaces it in the bursa, and puts it in the chalice covered with a veil, which he places on the altar or over the credentia, as before."
Proper Noun
- 1 A province and metropolitan municipality in northwestern Anatolia Turkey, on the Sea of Marmara.
- 2 A city, the capital of Bursa Province, Turkey.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
dry tissuesolid tissue
Example
"Bursitis is a painful inflammation of a bursa. A bursa is a small sac of fluid that cushions the bones, tendons, and muscles that are located near your joints."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bursa"?
Common synonyms include: brusa, fluid-filled sac, sac, synovial sac.
How do you use "bursa" in a sentence?
Bursitis is a painful inflammation of a bursa. A bursa is a small sac of fluid that cushions the bones, tendons, and muscles that are located near your joints.
How do you pronounce "bursa"?
Pronounced /ˈbɝsə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa); compare purse and bourse, which are doublets.
Etymology 2
From Turkish Bursa, from Ottoman Turkish بورسه (Brusa), from Byzantine Greek Προῦσα (Proûsa), from Ancient Greek Προυσίας (Prousías, “Prusias”) + -α (-a). Doublet of Prusa.