The story
- Latin · derived fromcautiō
- Old French · derived fromcaution“security, surety”
- Middle English · inherited fromcaucioun“bail, guarantee, pledge”
- English todaycaution
Recorded since 1297 as Middle English caucioun (“bail, guarantee, pledge”), from Old French caution (“security, surety”), itself from Latin cautiō, from cautus, past participle of caveō, cavēre (“be on one's guard”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.