Etymologically
Log in

ambulance

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 02:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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