Where does “alert” come from?
alert (Dutch) comes from French alerte, from Italian all'erta, from Italian erta, from Italian erto, from Latin ērectus, from Latin ērigō, from Latin regō, from Proto-Italic regō — to straighten, to right oneself; right; just.
alert (Dutch): alert
Ancestry of “alert”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | alerte | alert; agile; first-person singular present... |
| 2 | Italian | all'erta | Alternative spelling of allerta; to the height |
| 3 | Italian | erta | feminine singular of erto; steep slope |
| 4 | Italian | erto | steep |
| 5 | Latin | ērectus | — |
| 6 | Latin | ērigō | — |
| 7 | Latin | regō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | regō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃réǵeti | to be straightening, to be setting upright |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃reǵ- | to straighten, to right oneself; right; just |