the.com/sentinel
A guard who exists so disaster has to make an appointment first.
means A person or thing stationed to keep watch and give warning before trouble arrives.
from From French 'sentinelle,' borrowed from Italian 'sentinella,' most likely tied to 'sentire' — to perceive, sense, or hear. The word literally carries the act of watching inside it: a sentinel is, at root, someone whose job is to sense danger before anyone else does.
- shared root
- sentire also gives us sentiment and sense
- military use
- first English records describe castle watch guards, 1500s
- modern usage
- now names satellites, software alerts, and antivirus tools
- biology term
- sentinel species like canaries warn of hidden toxins