ambulance

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɑ̃.by.lɑ̃s/^[1]

Forms

ambulance f (plural ambulances)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French ambulant + -ance,^[2][1] after the older hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”) (1762), earlier hôpital ambulatoire (1637).^[3][1] The adjective ambulant was borrowed in 1558 from Latin ambulāns, the present participle of ambulō (“to walk about”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was first used in 1752, in the Trévoux dictionary, for the post of a travelling tax collector, an administrative charge that moved from place to place.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1787 it became common for a moving military hospital that followed the troops in the field.^[5] As the army's ambulance service came to use vehicles, called ambulances from about 1864, a use prepared by chariot d'ambulance (1787) and voiture de l'ambulance (1825), the word passed to the vehicle; it entered civilian use in 1891, first for a horse-drawn and then for a motor vehicle.^[5][6] The field-hospital sense was used until about 1940.^[6] The familiar phrase tirer sur l'ambulance means to attack someone who is already in trouble.^[6][7]

English took the word in 1798 for a mobile hospital; it became common in English for the vehicle during the Crimean War (1854).^[8]

Timeline

• 1752 – First record, for the post of a travelling official.^[4][5]
• 1787 – Used for a moving military hospital.^[5]
• 1798 – English borrows it for a field hospital.^[8]
• c. 1864 – Used for the vehicles of the army's ambulance service.^[5]
• 1877 – The derivative ambulancier is recorded.^[5]
• 1891 – Passes into civilian use, for a horse-drawn ambulance.^[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vehicle equipped to carry sick or injured people to hospital.^[6][7]
2. (historical) A mobile military field hospital following the troops.^[6][7]
3. Tirer sur l'ambulance (familiar): to attack someone who is already in difficulty.^[6][7]

Word family

• ambulancier

Related words

• ambulant
• ambulatoire
• Latin ambulo
• English ambulance

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com