caveat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkævɪæt/
ipa: /ˈkeɪ-/
ipa: /ˈkæviɑt/
ipa: /-æt/
Forms: form: caveats
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin caveat (“may he/she/it beware”), third-person singular present active subjunctive of caveō (“I beware of”). Doublet of show, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- (“to heed, look, feel, take note of”).
Senses: examples: text: There is at least one caveat in cultivation: you’ll have to stick to only one discipline, such as that according to Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha.
text: And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]
ref: 1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, […] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], →OCLC, page 291:
text: 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.
ref: 1986 March 9, Roy Blount Jr., “Able were they ere they saw cable”, in The New York Times:
glosses: A warning.
examples: text: He gave his daughter some hyacinth bulbs with the caveat that she plant them in the shade.
text: If a midfielder and a defender are acquired by 1 September then Louis van Gaal will consider United's summer in the market almost a success. The one caveat is that the Dutchman wished to have finished strengthening the squad before the start of the season.
ref: 2014 August 26, Jamie Jackson, “Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2017:
text: The writing has been on the wall that Americans’ support for mass deportation was subject to all kinds of caveats and provisos.
ref: 2025 July 13, Aaron Blake, “Trump’s mass deportation is backfiring”, in CNN:
synonyms: stipulation
proviso
condition
glosses: A qualification or exemption.
examples: text: If I adhered to the system of caveats, which would throw it upon an individual to be cautious, and to look out lest he should not have notice, if he did not enter a caveat I would require him to specify in respect of what he entered his caveat. General caveats, I think, should not be allowed against all the world and against general inventions, for the same reasons that I would not allow a person to have a patent for a general title without specifying upon what improvements he applied for a patent.
ref: 1849 August 25, Thomas Webster, “Law of Patents.—Report of the Committee on the Signet and Privy Seal Offices. Extracts from Minutes of Evidence.”, in J[oseph] C[linton] Robertson, editor, Mechanics’ Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette, volume LI, number 1359, London: Robertson and Co., Mechanics' Magazine Offices, No. 166, Fleet-street, London; and No. 99B, New-Street, Birmingham, →OCLC, pages 185–186:
topics: law
glosses: A formal objection.
examples: text: The necessity for caveats arise in two cases: one class of caveats is prohibitory as regards some contemplated dealing or transaction affecting the property described in the caveat; while another class of caveats arises out of adverse claims to the land itself, or to some estate or interest in the land.
ref: 1861 May 29, William Charles Belt, “Minutes of Evidence”, in Real Property Law Commission, South Australia (chairman: Chief Justice Charles Cooper), Report of the Real Property Law Commission, with Minutes of Evidence and Appendix. Ordered by the Parliament to be Prited ([Parliamentary Paper, 1861]; no. 192), Adelaide, S.A.: Printed by authority, by W. C. Cox, Government Printer, Victoria-Square, published November 1861, →OCLC, page 94:
text: The purpose of a caveat is to give a person who has an unregistered interest in a property the ability to protect that interest from the harshness of indefeasibility of title, which is enjoyed by a later interest which is registered, assuming there is no exception to indefeasibility available to the holder of the earlier unregistered interest. Section 74H of the Real Property Act provides that a caveat operates to prevent dealings that are subsequently lodged from obtaining registration. In the absence of a caveat precluding the later interest from becoming registered, the later interest would be registerd and upon registration would enjoy the benefit of immediate indefeasibility of title.
ref: 2005, Geoffrey Moore, “Torrens Title: Priorities between Unregistered Interests”, in David Barker, editor, Essential Real Property (Cavendish Essential Series), Coogee, N.S.W.: Cavendish Publishing (Australia), →ISBN, page 76:
topics: law
glosses: A formal objection.
A formal notice of interest in land under a Torrens land-title system.
topics: law
glosses: A notice requesting a postponement of a court proceeding.