abundance of caution

noun

Caution used to justify preemptive measures that are likely not strictly necessary.

“out of an abundance of caution”

OriginLatin abundans cautela →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noun
  1. Caution used to justify preemptive measures that are likely not strictly necessary.

    out of an abundance of caution

    1 more example

    Although the minister is in good health, he has been hospitalized today out of an abundance of caution.

Origin

  1. Latinabundans cautela
  2. Englishabundance of caution

Calque of Latin abundans cautela. See also the direct borrowing ex abundante cautela.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish varmuuden vuoksi
  • varmuuden vuoksipreemptive caution
French par acquit de conscience
  • par acquit de consciencepreemptive caution
Hungarian óvatosságból, elővigyázatosságból
  • óvatosságbólpreemptive caution
  • elővigyázatosságbólpreemptive caution
  • óvintézkedéskéntpreemptive caution
Korean 노파심
  • 노파심 (nopasim)preemptive caution
Polish duża ostrożność
  • duża ostrożnośćpreemptive caution
Cite this entry
APA

abundance of caution. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abundance%20of%20caution

MLA

“abundance of caution.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abundance%20of%20caution. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abundance of caution,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abundance%20of%20caution.

Source: abundance of caution on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.