Purser

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Purser \Purs"er\, n. [See {Purse}, and cf. {Bursar}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Naut.) A commissioned officer in the navy who had charge
        of the provisions, clothing, and public moneys on
        shipboard; -- now called {paymaster}.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. A clerk on steam passenger vessels whose duty it is to
        keep the accounts of the vessels, such as the receipt of
        freight, tickets, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Colloquially, any paymaster or cashier.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Purser's name} (Naut.), a false name. [Slang]
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  purser
       n : an officer aboard a ship who keeps accounts and attends to
           the passengers' welfare

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "purser":
     accountant, auditor, bakehead, black gang, boilerman, bookkeeper,
     bungs, bursar, cabin boy, cashier, cashkeeper, chamberlain, chips,
     commissary steward, compensator, complement, comptroller,
     controller, curator, deckhand, deckie, defrayer, depositary,
     depository, financial officer, fireman, gun loader, gunner, hand,
     hospital steward, landing signalman, liquidator, mail orderly,
     navigator, oiler, payer, paymaster, purse bearer, radio operator,
     ratepayer, receiver, recompenser, remunerator, roustabout, snip,
     snips, sparks, steward, stewardess, stoker, taxpayer, torpedoman,
     treasurer, trustee, watch, yeoman
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PURSER. The person appointed by the master of a ship or vessel, whose duty 
  it is to take care of the ship's books, in which everything on board is 
  inserted, as well the names of mariners as the articles of merchandise 
  shipped. Rosc. Ins. note. 
       2. The act of congress concerning the naval establishment, passed March 
  30, 1812, provides, Sec. 6, That the pursers in the Navy of the United 
  States shall be appointed by the president of the United States, by and with 
  the advice and consent of the senate; and that, from and after the first day 
  of May next, no person shall act in the character of purser, who shall not 
  have been thus first nominated and appointed, excepting pursers on distant 
  service, who shall not remain in service after the first day of July next, 
  unless nominated and appointed as aforesaid. And every purser, before 
  entering upon the duties of his office, shall give bond, with two or more 
  sufficient sureties, in the penalty of ten thousand dollars, conditioned 
  faithfully to perform all the duties of purser in the United States. 
       3. And by the supplementary act to this act concerning the naval 
  establishment, passed March 1, 1817, it is enacted, Sec. 1, That every 
  purser now in service, or who may hereafter be appointed, shall, instead of 
  the bond required by the act to which this is a supplement, enter into bond, 
  with two or more sufficient sureties, in the penalty of twenty-five thousand 
  dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of all his duties as purser 
  in the navy of the United States, which said sureties shall be approved by 
  the judge or attorney of the United States for the district in which such 
  purser shall reside.