Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sentinel” come from?

Sentinel comes from Middle French sentinelle, from Italian sentinella, from Latin sentio meaning to perceive or feel, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sent- and h₁es-.

sentinel (English): A sentry, watch, or guard; A private soldier; a...

Definitions

  1. A sentry, watch, or guard; A private soldier; a...

Ancestry of “sentinel”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchsentinelle—
2Italiansentinellasentry, guard
3Italiansentireto feel; to hear; to smell
4Latinsentiō—
5Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
6Latin-tōrius—
7Latin-tor-er
8Proto-Italic-tōr—
9Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
10Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “sentinel”

  • sentinelship
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →