Brewer's: Alert

To be on the watch. From the Latin erectus, part. of erigere, to set upright; Italian, erto, French, erte, a watch-tower. Hence the Italian starë allerta, the Spanish estar alerta, and the French être à l'erte, to be on the watch.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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