precaution

/pɹiˈkɔːʃən/pree-KAW-shuhn
/pɹiˈkɔʃən/pree-KAW-shuhn

Meaninga heeding beforehand

Common meaning: a step taken beforehand against harm

‘before’ + ‘take heed, keep watch’ → precaution

Journey through time

  1. Latincaveō, cāvī, cautum‘take heed, keep watch’
  2. Frenchprecaution
  3. Englishprecaution‘a step taken beforehand against harm’ · today

pre- also in: prefixprecedeprecisepredictpreface

caut also in: cautioncaveat

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin caveō ‘take heed, keep watch’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry caveō, p. 305 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

cautioncaveat

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