A purse or pouch (from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, which in turn, is from the Greek , ''býrsa'', oxhide), sometimes called coin purse for clarity, is a small money bag or pouch, made for carrying

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s. In most

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which i ...

it is known simply as a purse, while "purse" in the United States usually refers to a handbag. An obsolete variant is a porte-monnaie. "Purse" can also be a synonym to bursary (which has the same origin), i.e. a monetary prize in a competition.

History

The oldest known purse was found with Ötzi the Iceman who lived around 3,300 BC. Another early example is on Egyptian

hieroglyph Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. ...

s, which show pouches worn around the waist. The purse-lid from the Sutton Hoo burial is a very elaborate, probably royal, metalwork cover for a (presumably) leather

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

purse of about 600 AD. In Europe they often showed social status based on the embroidery and quality of the bag. In the 15th century, both men and women wore purses. They were often finely embroidered or ornamented with

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. It was also customary for men to give their new

bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

s purses embroidered with an illustration of a love story. In the 17th century, bags became more complex and elaborate. Girls were taught skills such as embroidery and needlework that could assist them in finding a husband. These skills gave rise to stitched artwork on bags. Around the year 1670, men's breeches were made with built-in pockets, which caused them to stop carrying purses. They did however carry little netted purses in their pocket to carry money.

References

External links

{{Clothing 4th-millennium BC introductions Containers Fashion accessories History of clothing (Western fashion) Ötzi da:Pengepung

History

See also

References

External links