alerte French · revision 15920

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1552, Rabelais|origins=la ērigō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.lɛʁt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''alerte''' (plural alertes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''À l'herte'' (Rabelais), ''à l'airte'' (Montaigne), ''à l'erte''; written as one word from the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|all'erta|t=on the height; on guard]], a soldiers' call to keep watch,^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 240a) from [[m|it|erta|t=steep slope, height]], the noun use of [[m|it|erto|t=steep]], past participle of [[m|it|ergere|t=to raise]], from [[la|ērigō|t=to raise, erect]], the source of [[ériger]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) [[es|alerta]] is also from Italian.^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais's ''Quart Livre'' (1552) has ''commenda tous estre à l'herte'', ordered all to be on guard, as a storm approached.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The interjection “on guard!” gave an adjective in the 16th century, first “vigilant, on the alert” (Carloix's ''se tenir allerte''), now dated,^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) and then “lively, nimble” (''un vieillard alerte'', ''un esprit alerte'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The feminine noun appears in the 18th century (Buffon) for a warning signal, a call to vigilance like ''alarme'';^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) it spread with ''fausse alerte'', ''être en alerte'' and the air-raid ''alertes'' of the Second World War.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The verb ''alerter'' dates from 1918, during the First World War.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1552 – ''Estre à l'herte'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 16th century – ''À l'airte'' in Montaigne.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 16th century – The adjective ''alerte''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 18th century – The noun “alarm”, in Buffon.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1836 – ''Alerté'' in Stendhal.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1918 – The verb ''alerter''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|alert]], warning signal of danger: ''donner l'alerte'', ''alerte aérienne'', ''fausse alerte''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''En alerte'', ''en état d'alerte'': ready to act.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A warning sign of danger: ''à la première alerte''.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Alerte !'': look out!, to arms!^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lively, [[m|en|nimble]], spry: ''une démarche alerte'', ''un esprit alerte''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Vigilant, on one's guard.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alerter]]

+ * [[alerter]]

+ * [[alertement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alarme]]

+ * [[ériger]]

+ * [[en|alert]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}