In anatomical nomenclature, a bursa is a fluid-filled sac that helps cushion a joint. Bursa is the Latin word for “purse,” the source of English purse itself, as well as the bursar who controls the purse strings in a college, plus disburse meaning “to release funds,” and reimburse, “to pay back.” In France, the related term Bourse is applied to the French stock exchange. Next to your knee is a bursa called the pes anserinus, which means “goose foot” in Latin, a reference to the way tendons from three different leg muscles attach to the shin bone there, then spread out in three directions like a webbed goose’s foot. Pes in Latin means “foot,” and its genitive form pedis is the source of such English words as pedestrian and pedal. Anser in Latin means “goose,” and anserinus means “gooselike,” from which we get the English adjective anserine, which describes something “silly or stupid as a goose.” In German, Gänsefüßchen, “little goose feet,” is a slang term for “quotation marks.” Another English word inspired by a bird’s foot is pedigree, from French pied de grue, or “foot of the crane,” recalling the shape of the forked lines in a genealogical chart. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Little Bits of Body Latin and Their Relatives”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. Last week I was having some knee pain, enough that I went to my doctor’s
Office, and the physician’s assistant there examined my leg and did some squeezing and
Manipulating, and he said that I had an inflammation of the bursa on the inside of my knee just below
The joint. And he explained that a bursa is a fluid-filled sack that acts as a cushion there
In the joint. And so I was thinking, cool, the word bursa is the Latin word for purse.
And we get the word bursar from that, somebody who controls the purse strings at a college.
And we also get the word reimburse from the Latin word for purse, you know,
Where you’re putting money back in somebody’s purse. And then he said that that bursa specifically
Was called the pace anserenus. And I’m thinking, wait, pace anserenus? But that’s the Latin for
Goose foot. You’re telling me I have a goose foot in my knee? And he said, oh, I don’t know. You
Know, that’s just what they taught us in medical school. That’s just what we memorized. And I’m
Thinking, no, that means goose foot. Why do I have a goose foot in my knee? Because the Latin word
Pace, P-E-S, means foot. And the genitive of that, pedis, gives us pedestrian and pedal. And then I
Was thinking about the word anserenus because in Latin, anserenus means goose-like. And in English,
The word anseren means silly or stupid as a goose. Like you would say, you know, he engaged in
Anserine behavior. But I was wondering why goosefoot? And I got home and I started reading
About this, of course, and I learned that the tendons of three different leg muscles attach
To the shin bone over this bursa, and they spread out in three directions from that spot. So they
Look sort of like a goosefoot. So that’s why my bursa is called the pace anserinus. And then
I started thinking about other words involving goose feet, because in German there’s the word
Gänsefüschchen, which literally means little goose feet, and it’s a term for quotation marks.
Gänsefüschchen. And then Grant, there’s one more word in English that has a bird foot in it.
Any ideas what that is? One more word in English that has the bird foot in it?
Mm-Not a goose foot, but a different bird foot. A different bird foot.
And it comes from French.
Pied-a-terre.
Magpie.
I don’t know.
What is it?
Well, the French word for foot, as you noted, is pied.
And in French, the word for a crane, you know, that long-legged bird, is a grue.
So pied de grue gave us the word pedigree from the shape made by the forked lines of a genealogical chart.
So I went from bursa to pace anserinus to pedigree ultimately.
And I had so much fun I forgot my knee hurt.
I thought that’s where you were headed.
Yeah, I’m sitting here.
My mind is swirling with all these connections.
And I’m still thinking about purse.
The word purse itself is from the word bursa.
The B became a P in English when it came over from French.
And in French, bourse means a stock exchange.
That’s what they use for the Paris stock exchange.
B-O-U-R-S-E.
That’s the Paris stock exchange.
So it’s like a giant purse.
It’s full of money.
This is why sometimes Grant and I are just sitting there staring into space.
This is how our brains work.
We’re like twins.
We have a secret language.
We just twitch an eyebrow.
The other one’s like, yes, I get it.
I agree.
We’re joined at the brainstem.
There are these secret paths and strange stories in pretty much any language.
Whether your question is about English or another language, let us know, 877-929-9673.
Or email us, words@waywordradio.org.
