The word urgency refers to a situation or condition that requires immediate attention or action. It often implies that there is a pressing need to resolve an issue or to make a decision quickly. This sense of immediacy can be due to time constraints, critical circumstances, or significant consequences of inaction.
The term "urgency" comes from the Latin word urgens, which is the present participle of urgere, meaning "to press" or "to urge." The suffix -cy is used to form nouns indicating a state or condition, so urgency essentially means "the state of being urgent."