Disbursement was minted in English in the late 16th century by melding the noun suffix
-ment with the verb
disburse.
Disburse is a borrowing of the Middle French
desbourser, which traces back to the Old French
desborser, a combination of the negating prefix
des- (equivalent to the English
dis-) and
borse, which, like its English cognate
purse, ultimately traces back to the Medieval Latin
bursa, meaning "money bag" and, in earlier Latin usage, "
oxhide." During the 16th and 17th centuries,
deburse,
depurse, and
dispurse were deposited in the English language bank as synonyms of
disburse.
Deburse and
depurse were also used respectively to form
debursement and
depursement—but these synonyms of
disburse and
disbursement all quickly declined in value and were never redeemed.
