ambulanță

Forms

ambulanță f (plural ambulanțe)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French ambulance;^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DELR adds that Italian ambulanza may have contributed too, and Tiktin gives both.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The French word is formed ambulant (“itinerant”) + -ance, after the earlier hôpital ambulant (“itinerant hospital”).^[1] Scriban names both Romanian ambulant and the French word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1774, in the sense “field hospital”.^[3] DELR's first record is from about 1832, in I. Golescu's Condica.^[2] The DA quotes Alecsandri: „Pe Turcul leșinat Îl poartă-n ambulanță” “he carries the fainted Turk to the field hospital”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a mobile military hospital that followed the troops in war; Șăineanu's dictionary and the CADE still give only this.^[5][7][8] By extension it was used for an itinerant hospital serving rural communes.^[5][9] Scriban also records a travelling post office on a train.^[6] The vehicle sense came from trăsură de ambulanță “ambulance carriage”, shortened to ambulanță;^[5][4] DEX 2009 puts it first.^[5][4] Its colloquial synonym is salvare.^[4][10] DELR records ambulanțier “ambulance driver, ambulance worker” from 2001.^[2]

Timeline

• 1774 – first record, “field hospital”.^[3]
• c. 1832 – in I. Golescu's Condica.^[2]
• 1929 – “military hospital following the army in the field” in Șăineanu.^[7]
• 2001 – ambulanțier “ambulance driver”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ambulance: a vehicle fitted out to carry injured or seriously ill people to hospital.^[4][10][1]
2. A mobile medical unit behind the front that gives first aid to the wounded; a field hospital.^[4][10]
3. (obsolete) A makeshift itinerant hospital serving villages.^[9][5]

Word family

• ambulanțier

Related words

• ambulant
• ambulatoriu
• salvare

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. ambulant
3. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ambulanță
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 34
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. ambulanță
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 94
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 21
8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. ambulanță
9. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 74
10. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 51