What it means
بورس (burs) means stock exchange, the marketplace where securities such as shares and bonds are bought and sold. It is borrowed directly from the French word bourse, itself from the Latin bursa meaning purse or bag. In Iran, the term refers specifically to the Tehran Stock Exchange, though it is also used in general phrases like بورس رفتن (burs raftan), meaning to invest in the stock market. The contrast with a private over-the-counter deal is that burs implies an official, regulated market.
How to use it
- پولمو گذاشتم تو بورس. (pul-amo gozâshtam tu burs.) “I put my money into the stock exchange.”
- بورس امروز قرمز بود. (burs emruz qermez bud.) “The stock exchange was red today.”
- داری تو بورس کار میکنی؟ (dâri tu burs kâr mikoni?) “Are you active in the stock market?”
- بورس این هفته خیلی نوسان داشت. (burs in hafte kheyli navasân dâsht.) “The market was very volatile this week.”
Cultural note
The Tehran Stock Exchange was established in 1967 and is one of the oldest markets in the Middle East. The Persian word burs is a direct adoption of the French bourse, reflecting the influence of European financial models on Iran during the Qajar and Pahlavi periods. Red and green are used colloquially to describe daily market movement, with قرمز (red) for losses and سبز (green) for gains, mirroring convention on digital trading boards.