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Triage

4 stages from Gallo-Roman to English.

Today it means the process of sorting patients or cases by urgency of need

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

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