Etymologically
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triage

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tʁi.jaʒ/[1]

Forms

triage m (plural triages)[1]

Etymology

It is from French trier + -age.[2][3][1] Trier “to sort” (about 1170) is traced by Bloch and Wartburg to Latin trītō (“to grind”), recorded in the 6th century, a derivative of classical terō (“to rub, grind”); they explain the sense by the grinding of grain to separate the unusable parts.[4]

The forestry sense “division of a forest” is explained differently.[2][4] Hatzfeld and Bloch and Wartburg saw it as Old French triege (“crossroads, passage”), altered under the influence of triage “sorting”; that word is very probably from a Latin of Gaul *trebium, from Gaulish *trebo (“part of a village”).[4][2] The FEW, the TLFi and the GLLF reject this and treat it as the same word as triage “sorting”.[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The forestry sense is the earliest: in 1343 a document of Lorraine uses it for the part of a communal forest assigned to the lord.[2][7] The sense “action of sorting” is first recorded in 1370 in a charter of Dinant.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Montaigne used it figuratively, chois et triage de ses raisons (1580).[2][8] The word spread to many technical fields: the sorting of spoiled sheets in paper-making (1763), metallurgy (1765), the hand-picking of wool (1845), railways, with gare de triage “marshalling yard” (1894), and wine-making, triage des raisins (1904).[2][7] By metonymy it meant in 1693 a group of people chosen from good society.[7][2] In the slang of the chauffeurs bandits a double-barrelled gun was un repoussant à deux trillages (1800), and in 1829 triage meant “time, turn”.[2] In forestry it came to mean a subdivision of a forest (1583) and the stretch watched by one forest guard.[2][6]

English took triage in the early 18th century for sorting by quality; the sense of sorting the wounded according to the severity of their injuries was adopted from French use during the First World War.[9]

Timeline

  • 1343 – Used for the part of a communal forest assigned to the lord.[2]
  • 1370 – “Action of sorting” appears in a charter of Dinant.[2]
  • 1580 – Montaigne writes of the triage of one's arguments.[2]
  • 1583 – Ragueau uses it for a division of a forest.[2][6]
  • 1693 – Used for a select group of people.[2][7]
  • 1763 – The Encyclopédie uses it in paper-making.[2]
  • 1894 – Gare de triage “marshalling yard” is recorded.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sorting, selecting or dividing things into groups; the result of this: le triage du linge, de la houille.[10][11]
  2. (railways) The marshalling of wagons into trains;[10] gare de triage, a marshalling yard.[10][11]
  3. (geology) The natural sorting of sediments.[10]
  4. A place or device where sorting is done.[10]
  5. (forestry) A division of a forest; the stretch watched by one forest guard.[6][11]
  • trier
  • tri
  • trieur
  • Latin trito
  • English triage

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 305a
  6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)