Etymologically
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precaution

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 16:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /pɹiːˈkɔː.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /pɹiːˈkɔ.ʃən/, /pɹiˈkɑ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French precaution, modern précaution, and directly borrowed from Late Latin praecautiō (“wariness, forethought; a safeguarding”).[2][3][4] Most dictionaries give only the French route,[5][6][7][8][9] and the American Heritage Dictionary and Dictionary.com only the Latin.[10][11] The Late Latin noun, recorded from the 5th century,[2] is formed on praecautus, the past participle of praecaveō (“to guard against beforehand”), from prae- (“before”) and caveō (“to be on one's guard, beware”),[10][4][6][9] the verb behind caution.[4][9] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *keu- (“to see, observe, perceive”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caution used beforehand; prudent foresight: 1599, in a letter of Henry Wotton.[2][6] Barnhart's first date is 1603, in Holland's translation of Plutarch's Moralia and Florio's of Montaigne's Essays.[3]

Semantic evolution

In French the word meant caution used beforehand by 1572 and a measure taken against danger by 1580, in Montaigne.[2] The count noun, a particular measure taken in advance, followed in English in 1603, in Florio's Montaigne, often in the phrase take precautions.[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "preservative caution; preventive measures".[12] The mass noun, measures taken collectively, dates from 1726.[2] A now-obsolete sense, a warning given beforehand, is recorded from 1658.[2] In the mid-20th century precautions became a euphemism for contraception, recorded from 1935.[2][4] The verb, to forewarn, is recorded from 1653 in the OED and about 1700 in Etymonline,[2][4] and is now rare;[13] the OED forms it from the noun, while the Shorter Oxford takes it from French précautionner.[2][13]

Timeline

  • 1599 – caution used beforehand, foresight.[2][6]
  • 1603 – a measure taken in advance.[2][3]
  • 1653 – verb, to forewarn.[2]
  • 1658 – a warning given beforehand (obsolete).[2]
  • 1726 – precautionary measures collectively.[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson: "preservative caution; preventive measures".[12]
  • 1935 – a contraceptive measure.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Something done in advance to prevent harm or to make a good result more likely: As a precaution, we saved copies of all the files.[8][6][2]
  2. Care taken beforehand; prudent foresight.[8][6][2]

Verb

  1. (rare) To forewarn; to put on guard.[6][13][2]

Word family

  • precautionary
  • unprecautioned

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press