ambulance English · revision 210
5 Oct 2026, 22:17 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, word family, related words; definitions under Modern meaning” current version
Changes in this edit
@@ -1,17 +1,38 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈæmbjᵿl(ə)n(t)s/, /ˈæm.bjə.ləns/; /ˈæm.bjəˌlæns/, /ˈæm.bəˌlæns/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− Recorded from 1798 in the sense “mobile or field hospital”;^(Etymonline) the OED and Merriam-Webster date it to 1809.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) It is [[bor|fr|ambulance]], which replaced ''hôpital ambulant'' “walking hospital”,^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) [[der|la|ambulāns|t=walking]], present participle of [[la|ambulāre|t=to walk, go about]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)
+ It is [[bor|fr|ambulance]], which replaced ''hôpital ambulant'' “walking hospital”,^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|ambulāns|t=walking]], present participle of [[la|ambulāre|t=to walk, go about]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)
− The word became common in English when its sense moved from “field hospital” to “vehicle carrying the wounded from the field” during the Crimean War,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in the early 20th century it was extended to civilian vehicles.^(Etymonline) Compare [[amble]].^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A mobile field hospital following an army (1798; 1809 according to the OED and Merriam-Webster).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) A French dictionary of 1801 describes such hospitals as houses that could be taken apart and carried with the army.^(Etymonline)
− ==Noun==
− '''ambulance'''
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The word became common in English when its sense moved from “field hospital” to “vehicle carrying the wounded from the field” during the Crimean War,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in the early 20th century it was extended to civilian vehicles.^(Etymonline) In late 19th-century American dialect it also meant a prairie wagon.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Ambulance-chaser'', a contemptuous term for a kind of lawyer, dates from 1897.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1798 – “mobile or field hospital”.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1854 – a vehicle for carrying the wounded, in the Crimean War.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1856 – a touring caravan, in the US.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1897 – ''ambulance-chaser''.^(Etymonline)
+ * early 20th century – civilian ambulances.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1925 – ''ambulance plane''.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
# A vehicle equipped to carry sick or injured people, usually to a hospital.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
# ''(historical)'' A mobile field hospital that follows an army.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
− ==Verb==
− '''ambulance'''
+ ===Verb===
+ # To carry by ambulance.^(Wiktionary)
− # To carry by ambulance.^(Wiktionary)
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[ambulette]]
+ * [[ambulance chaser]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[ambulant]]
+ * [[ambulatory]]
+ * [[amble]]
==References==