Triage

noun; also verb (transitive)

/triːˈɑːʒ/

The process of sorting and prioritising disaster victims or patients for treatment based on the urgency of their medical needs and the available resources, ensuring that those most likely to benefit receive care first.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

In a public health emergency, the State must practise ethical triage — channelling scarce ventilators and oxygen towards those most likely to benefit — while ensuring that such rationing rests on transparent, non-discriminatory criteria rather than ability to pay.

Synonyms

prioritisationsortingcategorisationrankingsiftingscreening

Antonyms

indiscriminationneglectdisorganisation

🌱 Word Family

triage (v), triaged (adj), triaging (v pres.p), triagist (n), mass-triage (n)

🔡 Root

French triage = action of sorting, sifting; Old French trier = to sort, select; Late Latin tritare = to grind

📜 Etymology

From French triage ("action of sorting, sifting"), from Old French trier ("to sort, select"), from Late Latin tritare ("to grind"); the medical usage was pioneered by Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, Surgeon-in-Chief to Napoleon's Imperial Guard, in the early 19th century.

🧠 Memory Hook

From French trier, "to sort" — picture a battlefield medic dividing the wounded into THREE (tri-) groups: those who will live anyway, those who can be saved, and those beyond help. "Tri-age" = sort by who to treat first.

⚠️ Disaster Management 📖 Seen in: Institutional Framework for Disaster M...

Tip: press Alt+S to hear pronunciation