Sentinels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Protective individuals or forces assigned to keep watch over a designated area while alerting to any dangers that may arise
2. Vigilant entities responsible for surveillance and safeguarding a location from potential hazards or threats
3. Persons stationed to observe and alert about any approaching threats to a specific place

Etymology: "Sentinels" is the plural of "sentinel", and the singular has a surprisingly tangled ancestry. The Italian sentinella, a watch or guard kept by a soldier, is probably built from "sentina", with the diminutive ending "-ella" added on. Its exact origin is uncertain, though "sentina" is linked to "sentire", meaning "perceive, watch, hear", which in turn comes from Latin "sentiō", "feel, perceive by the senses." So a guard was, at root, someone whose job was simply to notice things. The word reached English in the 1570s by way of Middle French "sentinelle", which carried the same military sense of a soldier posted on watch. English kept that original meaning of a soldier on guard duty, and the plural "sentinels" inherits it directly, so the word has stayed tied to the idea of alert, vigilant watching from its earliest English use.

Synonyms: guards, watchmen