Word of the Day

Sunday March 14, 2010

caveat [KAY-vee-at; KAV-ee-; KAH-vee-aht]

noun

A warning or caution; protest; admonition.
A notice given by an interested party to some officer not to do a certain act until the party is heard in opposition at a hearing (of Law).

One caveat: The three organizations approach fish sustainability differently and don't always agree on designations.

Bill Daley, "Chicago chefs hunger for 'green' fish; Little-known but sustainable species popping up on menus", Chicago Tribune, Mar 10, 2010
Commissioners Court adopted a budget Tuesday that cuts sheriff's office spending by $49 million in the coming year, but the county judge and sheriff immediately issued caveats that the plan assumes an end to chronic jail overcrowding.

Chris Moran, "COMMISSIONERS COURT $49 million slashed from sheriff's budget But cutting jail population key to making it work", Houston Chronicle, Mar 10, 2010
He knew nothing of the splendid invention since known as the "Morse Alphabet," and the spelling of words in a telegram was not intended by him. His complicated system, as described in his caveat filed by him in 1837, consisted in a system of signs, by which numbers, and consequently words and sentences, were to be indicated.

James W. Steele Steam Steel and Electricity (1895)

Origin of the Word

Caveat, approximately 1549, derives from Latin "let him beware," from cavere "to beware, take heed, watch, guard against."