Etymology

caveat emptor

Today it means: Used as a warning to anyone purchasing something that there may be unforeseen problems or faults with the item that is purchased. Full definition →

Latin caveat
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcaveat“may he / she / subject-noun beware”
  2. English todaycaveat emptor

Latin for “buyer beware”; from Latin caveat (“may he / she / subject-noun beware”), the third-person subjunctive of caveō (“to beware”) + ēmptor (“buyer”).

Words from the same roots

Latincaveat all →

caveat

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.