Meanings
present rare singular third person bewares · participle present rare bewaring · past rare bewared · nonstandard past bewore · participle past rare bewared · nonstandard participle past rare bewore
- ambitransitivedefectiveTo use caution, pay attention to (used both with and without of).
Beware the Ides of March.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]1 more example
Behold, I send an Angel before thee[…]. Beware of him, and obey his voice.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 23:20-21Synonyms: mind
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo use caution, pay attention to (used both with and without of).
More synonyms by meaning
verbbe on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishben ware“to be on one's guard, be vigilant”
- Middle Englishbewar
- Englishbeware
From Middle English bewar, be war, be ware, forms of Middle English ben ware (“to be on one's guard, be vigilant”, literally “be ware”), equivalent to be + ware or be + aware. Compare Old English bewarian.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَذَارِ, اِحْذَرْ
- حَذَارِ (ḥaḏāri)use caution, pay attention (to)
- اِحْذَرْ (iḥḏar)use caution, pay attention (to)
Bulgarian внимавай, пази се от
- внимавай (vnimavaj)use caution, pay attention (to)
- пази се от (pazi se ot)use caution, pay attention (to)
Catalan anar amb compte
- anar amb compteuse caution, pay attention (to)
Chinese Mandarin 小心
- 小心 (xiǎoxīn)use caution, pay attention (to)
Danish passe på, vogte sig
- passe påuse caution, pay attention (to)
- vogte siguse caution, pay attention (to)
- vare siguse caution, pay attention (to)
Esperanto atenti
- atentiuse caution, pay attention (to)
Finnish varoa
- varoause caution, pay attention (to)
French faire attention
- faire attentionuse caution, pay attention (to)
German sich hüten (vor)
- sich hüten (vor)use caution, pay attention (to)
Hungarian óvakodik
- óvakodikuse caution, pay attention (to)
Icelandic varast
- varastuse caution, pay attention (to)
Italian temere, guardarsi
- temereuse caution, pay attention (to)
- guardarsiuse caution, pay attention (to)
- fare attenzioneuse caution, pay attention (to)
Latin caveō, videsis
- caveōuse caution, pay attention (to)
- videsisuse caution, pay attention (to)
- vide sisuse caution, pay attention (to)
- sis videuse caution, pay attention (to)
Norwegian passe seg
- passe seguse caution, pay attention (to)
Polish strzec się
- strzec sięuse caution, pay attention (to)
Portuguese precaver-se, prestar atenção
- precaver-seuse caution, pay attention (to)
- prestar atençãouse caution, pay attention (to)
- tomar cuidadouse caution, pay attention (to)
Romanian păzi
- păzi (de)use caution, pay attention (to)
Russian остерега́ться
- остерега́ться (osteregátʹsja)use caution, pay attention (to)
Spanish tener cuidado, ser precavido
- tener cuidadouse caution, pay attention (to)
- ser precavidouse caution, pay attention (to)
Swedish akta sig (för)
- akta sig (för)use caution, pay attention (to)
Thai ระวัง
- ระวัง (rá-wang)use caution, pay attention (to)
Ukrainian стерегти́ся
- стерегти́ся (sterehtýsja)use caution, pay attention (to)
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with beware
Cite this entry
beware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beware
“beware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beware. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beware.
Source: beware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.