Where does “urgent” come from?

Urgent comes from Middle French urgent, from Latin urgens, the present participle of urgeo, meaning to press or drive, from Proto-Indo-European werǵʰ-.

urgent (English): Requiring immediate attention

Definitions

  1. Requiring immediate attention

Ancestry of “urgent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchurgentpressing, impelling
2Latinurgēnsurging
3Latinurgeōto press, push, force, drive, urge (forward); to stimulate
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwerǵ-to make

Words derived from “urgent”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European werǵ- →Every word from Latin urgeō →Every word from Latin urgēns →