Etymologically
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alert

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /əˈlɜːt/, US /əˈlɝːt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French alerte (“vigilant”), earlier à l'herte, à l'erte “on the watch”,[2][3][4] from the Italian military phrase all'erta (“on the watch; to the lookout”),[2][3][5][6] from erta “lookout, watchtower, steep slope”, a noun use of the feminine of erto, past participle of ergere “to raise”,[2][3] from Latin ērigere (“to raise”) (see erect).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a military term, on the lookout: 1598 in the OED, the late 16th century in the NODE;[7][8] Barnhart and MWU date the adjective to 1618, and Etymonline has the adverb from the 1610s.[3][6][2]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that alert was first military in English too and took its general meaning in the mid-17th century.[5] Watchful in general is from 1735, and quick in attention and motion, lively, from 1712.[7][2] The noun is from 1796 as an attitude of vigilance, in on the alert,[2][7] and in 1803 came to mean the call to look out for an attack, a warning.[2][7] A siren signal of an air raid is from 1940.[7] The verb, to rouse to vigilance or warn, is from before 1868, in Whitman,[7][3] and by 1864 in Etymonline.[2]

Timeline

  • 1598 – on the lookout, as a military term.[7]
  • 1618 – the adjective.[3]
  • 1712 – lively, brisk.[7][2]
  • 1796 – on the alert.[2][7]
  • 1803 – a warning of attack.[2][7]
  • 1868 – the verb, to warn.[7][3]
  • 1940 – an air-raid warning.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Watchful and ready to deal with danger; vigilant.
  2. Quick to notice and understand; mentally sharp.
  3. Brisk or lively.

Noun

  1. A signal that warns of danger or attack, such as an air-raid siren.
  2. A period of special watchfulness or readiness: on high alert.

Verb

  1. To warn someone of danger, or make them aware of something.

Word family

  • alertly
  • alertness
  • hyperalert
  • blue alert
  • red alert

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press