Etymology

pursy

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Today it means: Out of breath; short of breath, especially due to fatness. Full definition →

Middle English pursyf ← Old French pousser ← French poussif
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pursy · adjective1

  1. French · derived frompoussif“wheezy”
  2. Old French · derived frompousser“to push; to breathe with difficulty”
  3. Middle English · inherited frompursyf“short of breath, asthmatic”
  4. English todaypursy

From Middle English pursyf (“short of breath, asthmatic”), probably from Old French pousser (“to push; to breathe with difficulty”); see French poussif (“wheezy”).

pursy · adjective2

From purse (“pucker”) + -y and purse (“small bag for carrying money”) + -y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.