precaution

See also précaution

English

Etymology

From French pr['e]cation, Latin praecautio, from praecavere, praecautum (“to guard against beforehand”); prae (“before”) + cavere (“be on one's guard”). See pre-, and caution.

Pronunciation

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Noun

precaution (plural precautions)

1. Previous caution or care; caution previously employed to prevent mischief or secure good; as, his life was saved by precaution.

   The ancient philosophers treasured up their supposed discoveries with miserable precaution. -- John Henry Newman.

2. A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act; as, to take precautions against risks of accident.

Derived terms

• precautionary

See also

• prevention

Translations

Previous caution or care

Indonesian: langkah pencegahan Latin: provisio (la), provisio (la) f., provisio (la) f.

Turkish: önlem (tr)

A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success

Finnish: varotoimi (fi), varokeino (fi), varotoimenpide (fi) German: Vorsichtsmaßnahme (de) f.

Latin: provisio (la) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: voorzorg c. Italian: precauzione f.

Spanish: precaución f.

Verb

precaution (third-person singular simple present precautions, present participle precautioning, simple past and past participle precautioned)

1. (transitive): To warn or caution beforehand. --Locke.
2. (transitive, rare): To take precaution against. --John Dryden.

Translations

To warn or caution beforehand

To take precaution against

Finnish: ryhtyä varotoimenpiteisiin