sentinelle

I am very grateful to JJM who has answered my plea for information about what the French do with feminine nouns referring to masculine creatures (e.g. sentinelle, recrue) (see his note to “(s)he vs they”), and says that the French have less difficulty separating gender from sex than English speakers do.

Gender in French | Linguism 2008

Loosening his hold on Isnard, the man dispatched the sentinelle to take our message into the ceremony.

The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985

First inside was the sentinelle, who leapt around the poteau mitan in a mock display of suspicious concern.

The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985

Finally, there were three positions of note: the bourreau, or executioner, whose task it was to enforce the collective decisions of the society; the chasseur, or hunter, who was dispatched to bring culprits before the society; and the sentinelle, who was positioned at the gate as a scout to prevent unwelcome individuals from entering a society gathering.

The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985

Instantly an enormous man bearing the rope bandoliers of the sentinelle stepped before us to plug the gap in the fence.

The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985

In French we have: (1) L'origine ne se désoriginalisera jamais de son originalité; (2) A la santé de celle, qui tient la sentinelle devant la citadelle de votre coeur!

The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day Alexander F. Chamberlain

And on its outskirts stands the giant poplar that guards it -- _la sentinelle_ the peasants call it, because its lofty crest, rising to every wind, sends down the street first warning of any coming change.

A Prisoner in Fairyland Algernon Blackwood 1910

'Voila la sentinelle deja!' exclaimed Rogers, putting his head out to see the village poplar.

A Prisoner in Fairyland Algernon Blackwood 1910

The great Citadelle loomed above the smaller houses, half in shadow half in silver, nodding heavily to the spire of the Church, and well within sight of the sentinelle poplar that guarded the village from the forest and the mountains.

A Prisoner in Fairyland Algernon Blackwood 1910

On making his rounds very early in the morning, he found, in an advanced post, at a point of great danger, a picket, a _sentinelle perdue_, who proved to be one of the most respectable men in Amiens, the first president of the Upper Court of the city, nearly sixty years of age, doing his duty as a private soldier.

France and the Republic A Record of Things Seen and Learned in the French Provinces During the 'Centennial' Year 1889 William Henry Hurlbert 1861