blessées

Blessés is a French term meaning individuals who have sustained physical injury. It is used in medical, military, and emergency contexts to designate people who require assessment, treatment, or evacuation after harm. The masculine form is blessé (singular) and the masculine plural blessés; the feminine plural is blessées. As a past participle of blesser, blessé agrees in gender and number with its subject.

Usage and grammar: In neutral references, les blessés covers mixed-gender groups; blessées is used when all referents are female or when gender-specific language is required. The term can describe injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, and it is common in hospital, disaster, and battlefield reporting. In some contexts, stakeholders may specify injury severity with adjectives such as léger, grave, or critique, though these qualifiers vary by sector and language.

Contexts and care: In war, casualty lists and medical reports frequently note the status of blessés. In civilian settings, police and emergency services report on the number of blessés following accidents or disasters, while hospital teams provide initial stabilization, triage, and ongoing care. The phrase also appears in journalism and humanitarian contexts to discuss the human impact of violence, accidents, or conflict, and to frame requests for aid or support to those who are blessés.

See also: Injury, trauma, triage, emergency medicine.