# ambulance
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ambulance, which replaced hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”) via the suffix -ance, from Latin ambulō (“to walk; to go about”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈæm.bjə.ləns/, /ˈæm.bə.ləns/
* (African-American Vernacular, also Southern American English) IPA: /ˈæm.bjəˌlæns/, /ˈæm.bəˌlæns/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: am‧bu‧lance

### Noun

ambulance (plural ambulances)
* An emergency vehicle designed for transporting seriously ill or injured people to a hospital. [1854]
* (military) A mobile field hospital. [1798]
* (UK) A vehicle used for the transportation of dead people, typically to a mortuary.
    Synonym: private ambulance
* (chiefly UK, obsolete) Synonym of stretcher, a litter used for medical transport.
* (US, obsolete) Synonym of covered wagon. [Late 19c.]

#### Derived terms

* air ambulance
* amberlamps
* ambulance at the bottom of a cliff
* ambulance-chase
* ambulance chaser
* ambulance chasing
* ambulance cover
* ambulanceman
* ambulanceperson
* ambulance train
* ambulancewoman
* ambulette
* cabulance
* call an ambulance
* field ambulance
* motor-ambulance
* nonambulance
* police ambulance
* private ambulance
* vanbulance
* wahmbulance
* wambulance

#### Related terms

* ambulatory
* ambulant

#### Descendants

* → Baharna Arabic: عمبلوص (ʕambalūṣ)
* → Hindi: एम्बुलेंस (embulẽs)
* → Malay: ambulans
* → Swahili: ambulensi

#### Translations
### Verb

ambulance (third-person singular simple present ambulances, present participle ambulancing, simple past and past participle ambulanced)
* (transitive) To transport by ambulance.
** 1918, Western Surgical Association: Transactions, volume 27, page 66:Ambulancing patients with acute obstruction over cobble and rails should not be tolerated; better render the necessary service where the patient is found.

#### Further reading

* “ambulance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ambulance”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### References

* 1 2 3 4 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ambulance”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈambulant͡sɛ]

### Noun

ambulance f
* ambulance
    Synonym: sanitka
* hospital ward or department that offers outpatient care

#### Related terms

* ambulantně
* ambulantní

### Further reading

* “ambulance”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “ambulance”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

## Danish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ambulance.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɑmbuˈlɑŋsə/

### Noun

ambulance c (singular definite ambulancen, plural indefinite ambulancer)
* ambulance

#### Declension
### References

* “ambulance” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ambulance.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌɑm.byˈlɑn.sə/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: am‧bu‧lan‧ce
* Rhymes: -ɑnsə

### Noun

ambulance f (plural ambulances)
* ambulance
    Synonyms: ziekenauto, ziekenwagen
** 1975, Anke de Vries, Het geheim van Mories Besjoer, Lemniscaat, section 59:Ze beschrijven uitvoerig hoe Maurice te hulp schoot, toen hij gegil hoorde, hoe hij iemand had zien wegvluchten uit de kamer en dat hij het was geweest, die een ambulance had gebeld.(please add an English translation of this quotation)
** 1979, Rubberen Robbie, "De ambulance", Zuipen (CD).
    Twee, drie, weken geleden kwam de ambulance / Bij onze buurman hier net om de hoek(please add an English translation of this quotation)

#### Derived terms

* dierenambulance
* psycholance

#### Related terms

* ambulant

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: ambulans
* → Indonesian: ambulans
* → Sranan Tongo: ambilans
** → Caribbean Javanese: ambilas

## French
### Etymology

From Latin ambulāns, present participle of ambulō (“to walk, to go about”), replacing earlier hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɑ̃.by.lɑ̃s/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

### Noun

ambulance f (plural ambulances)
* ambulance

#### Descendants

* → Dutch: ambulance (see there for further descendants)
* → English: ambulance
* → Portuguese: ambulância
* → Romanian: ambulanță
* → Turkish: ambulans

### Further reading

* “ambulance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Norman
### Etymology

Borrowed from English ambulance and French ambulance.

### Noun

ambulance f (plural ambulances)
* (Jersey) ambulance