caution (English)

Where does "caution" come from?

The English word 'caution' has been recorded since 1297 as Middle English 'caucioun' meaning 'bail, guarantee, pledge'[1]. This term descended from Old French 'caution' in the sense of 'security, surety'[1]. The Old French word traces back to Latin 'cautiō', formed from 'cautus', the past participle of 'caveō' meaning 'be on one's guard'[1]. 'Caveō' itself derives from Proto-Italic '*kaweō', ultimately going back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*(s)kewh₁-' meaning 'to perceive, pay attention'[3][4]. Over time, the meaning shifted from a legal guarantee or bail to general prudence and care taken to avoid risk or harm.

Open questions

• The Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European forms are reconstructed stages rather than directly attested historical words. [3] [4] [5]

Full etymology tree

• caution (English), 'Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.'
  • inherited caucioun (Middle English)
    • borrowed caution (Old French)
      • borrowed cautio (Latin), 'precaution, caution'
        • derived cautus (Latin), 'cautious, careful'
          • derived caveo (Latin), 'to take precautions, beware, take care; to guard against, attend to a thing for a person, provide'
            • inherited *kaweō (Proto-Italic), 'to beware, to be mindful of'
              • inherited *kawejō (Proto-Italic)
                • derived *(s)kowh₁-éye-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
                  • derived *(s)kewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to perceive'
                  • suffix *-éyeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'Forms causative imperfective verbs from roots.'
        • suffix -tio (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'

Ancestors

• cautio (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• abundance of caution (English)
• cast caution to the wind (English)
• cautionary (English)
• caution fatigue (English)
• caution money (English)
• caution to snakes (English)
• cautious (English)
• competition caution (English)
• err on the side of caution (English)
• hypercaution (English)
• incaution (English)
• interview under caution (English)

Related words

• risk (English)

Sources

1. caution (English) - Wiktionary
2. cautio (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. caveo (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. kaweō (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary
5. (s)kowh₁éyeti (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
6. cautus (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris