Made aware of or warned about a danger, problem, or situation. Past tense of alert.
From Italian all'erta meaning 'to the watch tower', from erta 'steep ascent'. The term originally referred to a military watchman's cry. It entered English in the 17th century, evolving from a noun meaning 'watchful state' to a verb meaning 'to warn'.
The word 'alert' has a surprisingly vertical origin - it literally means 'to the height' in Italian, reflecting how watchtowers were built on elevated positions for better surveillance. This explains why we still use 'high alert' as an intensified form of readiness.
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