triage

Where does the word "triage" come from? It comes from Gallo-Roman triare, passing through Old French and French before entering English (1700s-1918).

Triage’s story begins in Gallo-Roman: triare meant “to sort, pick out.” A Vulgar Latin verb of unknown deeper origin meaning to sort or cull. By 1100s, the word had taken hold in Old French as trier. Kept the sense of sorting or picking out. From there it passed into French as triage by 1300s-1900s. Named the act of sorting goods by quality, then in the First World War was adopted for sorting wounded soldiers by urgency. It reached English by 1700s-1918 as triage. Entered for general sorting, then took on its now-dominant medical meaning during the First World War. Today, triage means the process of sorting patients or cases by urgency of need.

1. Stage 1 · Gallo-Roman · medieval triare "to sort, pick out", a Vulgar Latin verb of unknown deeper origin meaning to sort or cull.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · 1100s trier "to pick, cull", kept the sense of sorting or picking out.
3. Stage 3 · French · 1300s-1900s triage "a sorting; sorting the wounded by urgency", named the act of sorting goods by quality, then in the First World War was adopted for sorting wounded soldiers by urgency.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1700s-1918 triage "sorting patients by urgency of need", entered for general sorting, then took on its now-dominant medical meaning during the First World War.