triage

American  

[tree-ahzh] / triˈɑʒ /

noun

1. the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.

2. the determination of priorities for action.

   She began her workday with a triage of emails.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or performing the task of triage.

   a triage officer.

verb (used with object)

triaged, triaging

1. to act on or in by triage.

   to triage a crisis.

triage British  

/ ˌtriːˈɑːʒ, ˈtraɪ-, ˈtriːˌɑːʒ /

noun

1. (in a hospital) the principle or practice of sorting emergency patients into categories of priority for treatment

2. the principle or practice of sorting casualties in battle or disaster into categories of priority for treatment

3. the principle or practice of allocating limited resources, as of food or foreign aid, on a basis of expediency rather than according to moral principles or the needs of the recipients

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Etymology

Origin of triage

First recorded in 1925–30; from French: “a sorting,” from tri(er) “to sort” ( cf. try) + -age -age

Explanation

Grouping patients based on the severity of their injuries and the likelihood of their survival is called triage. In a triage situation, urgent cases are seen by doctors first, and non-life-threatening emergencies go last. You can also apply the sorting and prioritizing of triage to more general situations. If you're overwhelmed with homework, you can perform triage by organizing it into subjects and prioritizing assignments based on their due dates. The word triage comes from the French word trier meaning to sort. Although the medical sense is now the most common, it wasn't used that way until World War One.

Example Sentences

They say that their staff are helping to isolate and triage children arriving at hospitals where such measures are lacking.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

He said Target’s turnaround appeared to be working, but that it needed to “move on from triage to full-scale growth.”

From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026

"Setting up an appropriate area for triage and isolation was our main concern," Bamunoba said.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

There are other reforms worth testing: more open peer review, better data availability checks, and stronger triage to screen out low-quality submissions before they consume reviewer time.

From Slate • May 3, 2026

She has performed a kind of emergency triage, banishing the infected to save the well.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times