Archd. Smith says, “It is one set to watch the sentīna (Lat.) or hold of a ship,” but the Fr. sentier, a path or “beat,” is far more probable. (French, sentinelle; Italian, sentinella; the French sentier is from the Latin semĭta.)
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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