cautus

Forms

cautus (feminine cauta, neuter cautum, comparative cautior, superlative cautissimus, adverb cautē or cautim); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the past participle of caveō (“to beware”), used as an adjective.^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨caveō⟩ from Proto-Italic *kawē- and Proto-Indo-European *kouh₁-éye- (“to perceive”), with ⟨cautus⟩ from ⟨*kawitos⟩; cognates are Ancient Greek κοέω (koéō, “to perceive”) and Sanskrit कवि (kaví-, “seer, poet”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Plautus as its first author;^[3] the OLD also cites an elogium calling a man “the most cautious general of his age”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of persons it is wary, cautious or prudent, as in Plautus and Terence;^[2][5] Ovid has a man in the dark holding out “careful hands”.^[2][5] It is used of qualities, as Cicero's “more careful integrity”, and of plans that err on the safe side.^[2] Of loans and property it is secured, as Cicero's dowry placed in an estate so that the woman's property was safer, and with ab it is safe from.^[2]

The TLL records a rare late noun cautus, “a guarantee”, in Ennodius.^[6] Köbler finds the adjective in Augustine and in medieval glossaries.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of secured property and careful plans.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of careful hands.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wary, cautious, circumspect, prudent.^[2][5][1]
2. (of plans, actions) Cautious, erring on the safe side.^[2]
3. (of loans) Secured; safe (from).^[2]

Word family

• cautim

Related words

• caveō
• cautiō
• incautus
• prūdēns

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften