Where does “alertness” come from?
Alertness derives from English alert, which comes from French alerte, combining French à and l'erte, ultimately rooted in Latin ad and ab.
alertness (English): The quality of being alert or on the alert
Definitions
- The quality of being alert or on the alert
Ancestry of “alertness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Alert | — |
| 2 | French | alerte | alert; agile; first-person singular present... |
| 3 | Italian | all'erta | Alternative spelling of allerta; to the height |
| 4 | Italian | erta | feminine singular of erto; steep slope |
| 5 | Italian | erto | steep |
| 6 | Latin | ērectus | — |
| 7 | Latin | ērigō | — |
| 8 | Latin | regō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | regō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃réǵeti | to be straightening, to be setting upright |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃reǵ- | to straighten, to right oneself; right; just |