triage English · revision 1147

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtɹiː.ɑːʒ/ ''(UK)''; /tɹiˈɑʒ/, /ˈtɹi.ɑʒ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|triage|t=a picking out, sorting]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Old French ''trier'' “to pick, cull”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) the source of [[try]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Etymonline notes some apparent influence from Latin ''tria'' “three”, as in ''triage'' for the third and lowest grade of coffee beans.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The action of sorting goods according to quality (1727–41).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the First World War the French term was adopted for sorting wounded soldiers into groups according to the severity of their injuries,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1918.^(MW Collegiate) It is now the main sense,^(Etymonline) applied to battlefields, disaster sites and hospital emergency rooms.^(AHD) By extension it means assigning priorities for any scarce resource (1974).^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1727–41 – sorting by quality.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * early 19th century – refuse picked out, as broken coffee beans.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1918 – the sorting of wounded soldiers.^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1974 – prioritizing in general.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The sorting of injured or sick people according to the urgency of their need for treatment, as on a [[battlefield]] or in an [[emergency room]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The assignment of priorities for the use of scarce resources such as food or funds.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To sort or prioritize by triage.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[try]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}