alert English · revision 5907

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1598|origins=it all'erta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /əˈlɜːt/, US /əˈlɝːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|alerte|t=vigilant]], earlier à l'herte, à l'erte “on the watch”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from the Italian military phrase [[m|it|all'erta|t=on the watch; to the lookout]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024) from erta “lookout, watchtower, steep slope”, a noun use of the feminine of erto, past participle of ergere “to raise”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Latin [[m|la|ērigere|t=to raise]] (see [[erect]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a military term, on the lookout: 1598 in the OED, the late 16th century in the NODE;^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998) Barnhart and MWU date the adjective to 1618, and Etymonline has the adverb from the 1610s.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that alert was first military in English too and took its general meaning in the mid-17th century.^(Cresswell 2021) Watchful in general is from 1735, and quick in attention and motion, lively, from 1712.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The noun is from 1796 as an attitude of vigilance, in ''on the alert'',^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in 1803 came to mean the call to look out for an attack, a warning.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A siren signal of an air raid is from 1940.^(OED 1989) The verb, to rouse to vigilance or warn, is from before 1868, in Whitman,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and by 1864 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – on the lookout, as a military term.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1618 – the adjective.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1712 – lively, brisk.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1796 – ''on the alert''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1803 – a warning of attack.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1868 – the verb, to warn.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1940 – an air-raid warning.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Watchful and ready to deal with danger; [[vigilant]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Quick to notice and understand; mentally sharp.^(AHD)

+ # Brisk or lively.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A signal that warns of danger or attack, such as an air-raid [[siren]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A period of special watchfulness or readiness: ''on high alert''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[warn]] someone of danger, or make them aware of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alertly]]

+ * [[alertness]]

+ * [[hyperalert]]

+ * [[blue alert]]

+ * [[red alert]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[erect]]

+ * [[alarm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}