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Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday December 5, 2000

caveat \KAY-vee-at; KAV-ee-; KAH-vee-aht\, noun:
1. (Law) A notice given by an interested party to some officer not to do a certain act until the opposition has a hearing.
2. A warning or caution; also, a cautionary qualification or explanation to prevent misunderstanding.

Two young Harvard M.B.A.'s worked up some highly optimistic projections -- with the caveat that these were speculative and should of course be tested.
-- Roy Blount Jr., "Able Were They Ere They Saw Cable", New York Times, March 9, 1986

One caveat: If you plan to travel by car in Europe, expect a serious erosion of your buying power. Gasoline costs twice as much in France as in the U.S. (and triple the U.S. price in the U.K.).
-- Lynn Woods, "Euro Trashed", Kiplinger's, November 2000

At Disney, Eisner says, adding an important caveat, "Failing is good, as long as it doesn't become a habit."
-- Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius

Caveat comes from the Latin caveat, "let him beware," from cavere, "to beware."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for caveat