purser

noun

purs·​er ˈpər-sər How to pronounce purser (audio)
1
: an official on a ship responsible for papers and accounts and on a passenger ship also for the comfort and welfare of passengers
2
: a steward on an airliner

Examples of purser in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The ceremony was officiated by the airline’s openly-gay chief purser Rodrigue Chan in the airline’s Poerava business class cabin. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 5 June 2023 The show had a cast of amiable shipboard archetypes: Bernie Kopell played the semi-Lothario doctor; future congressman Fred Grandy was the eager young purser; Ted Lange was the cool bartender; Lauren Tewes was the pert cruise director; and Jill Whelan played the captain’s cute-as-a-button daughter. Washington Post, 29 May 2021 The rest areas are closed during taxi, takeoff and landing, and they are used based on shifts overseen by the cabin manager -- or chief purser, in aviation lingo -- the cabin crew member who's in charge of all the others and supervises operations on board. Jacopo Prisco, CNN, 27 June 2022 Other auction items that had been entombed for more than a century in the ship's wreckage 7,200 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean included the purser's keys to the treasure room where tons of Gold Rush coins and assayers ingots were stored. CBS News, 12 Dec. 2022 The two brothers made their professional debut as children, when their father put them on a boat to Detroit to visit an uncle and told the purser the boys would put on a free show. Bart Barnes, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2023 Other auction items that had been entombed for more than a century in the ship's wreckage 7,200 feet (2,195 meters) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean included the purser’s keys to the treasure room where tons of Gold Rush coins and assayers ingots were stored. Scott Sonner, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Dec. 2022 The purser calls me a taxi and, 20 minutes later, a black Toyota, which has somehow managed to navigate through the bumpy backstreets, pulls up alongside the carriage ready to take me to my hotel. Brendan Sainsbury, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Apr. 2022 She is now based in Los Angeles and serves as an international purser on flights between Los Angeles and London, Sydney and the Hawaiian Islands. Kathryn Kranhold, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'purser.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from purs purse

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of purser was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near purser

Cite this Entry

“Purser.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purser. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

purser

noun
purs·​er ˈpər-sər How to pronounce purser (audio)
: an official on a ship who keeps accounts and attends to passengers

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