Urgency
/ˈɜːr.dʒən.si/noun
The quality of needing immediate action or attention.
Did you know?Urgency ultimately comes from Latin urgere, “to press, drive, push hard,” a root that also gave English the idea of something being relentlessly forced on you.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*werǵ-
“to work, set in motion, press toward action”
Latin
Latin
urgēre
“to press, drive, urge”
Late Latin
Latin
urgentia
“pressure, urgency”
Old French
Old French
urgencie
“urgency, pressing need”
Middle English
English
urgencie
“pressing need or immediate demand”
Modern English
English
urgency
“the quality of requiring immediate action”