Etymologically
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urgence

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Pronunciation

  • /yʁ.ʒɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

urgence f (plural urgences)[1]

Etymology

It is from French urgent + -ence.[2][3][1] The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin urgēns (“pressing”), the present participle of urgeō (“to press”).[4] Littré instead derived the noun from Latin urgentia.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1550, in Guillaume Paradin's Histoire de Lyon, for the need to act quickly.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare before the second half of the 18th century and unused in the classical period; the GLLF finds no record between Oudin in 1660 and 1789.[2][6][7] It was taken up again in phrases such as urgence du besoin (1762, Diderot) and cas d'urgence (1789), and used on its own from 1792.[2][6]

In medicine it came to mean a case that needs swift treatment, with the metonyms les urgences “the emergency department” and une urgence “an emergency patient”; the Petit Robert dates une urgence “an urgent case” to 1960.[6][8] In law, procédure d'urgence is recorded in 1936 and état d'urgence in 1964.[7]

Timeline

  • 1550 – First record, in Guillaume Paradin.[2]
  • 1762 – Diderot writes urgence du besoin.[2]
  • 1789 – Cas d'urgence.[2][6]
  • 1798 – The Académie records the word.[2]
  • 1936 – Procédure d'urgence in law.[7]
  • 1960 – Une urgence “an urgent case”.[8]
  • 1964 – État d'urgence.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Urgency: the quality of what must be done without delay.[8][9]
  2. The need to act quickly: en cas d'urgence, mesures d'urgence, d'urgence, de toute urgence: at once.[8][9]
  3. An emergency: an urgent case, especially a patient who needs immediate care, les urgences: the emergency department of a hospital.[8][6]
  4. (law) A situation that allows a court to act by a rapid procedure, état d'urgence: a state of emergency.[9][7]
  • urgent
  • urger
  • urgentiste
  • Latin urgeō

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)