Meanings
plural precautions
- countableuncountablePrevious caution or care; caution previously employed to prevent misfortune or to secure good.
his life was saved by precaution
1 more example
July 2, 1826, John Henry Newman, The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospel The ancient philosophers treasured up their supposed discoveries with miserable precaution.
- countableuncountableA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act.
to take precautions against risks of accident
1 more example
Despite all these precautions, however, severe storms sometimes caused drifts which brought traffic completely to a standstill.
1955 December, H. A. Vallance, “The Highland Centenary—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 859
present singular third person precautions · participle present precautioning · participle past precautioned · past precautioned
- transitiveTo warn or caution beforehand.
- raretransitiveTo take precaution against.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraecautio
- Frenchprécaution
- Englishprecaution
From French précaution, Latin praecautio, from praecavere, praecautum (“to guard against beforehand”); prae (“before”) + cavere (“be on one's guard”). See pre-, and caution.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian предпазливост, внимание
- предпазливост (predpazlivost)Previous caution or care
- внимание (vnimanie)Previous caution or care
- предпазна мярка (predpazna mjarka)A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- предпазвам (predpazvam)To warn or caution beforehand
- взимам мерки (vzimam merki)To take precaution against
Chinese Mandarin 防範 /防范, 預防 /预防
- 防範 /防范 (fángfàn)Previous caution or care
- 預防 /预防 (yùfáng)Previous caution or care
- 用心 (yòngxīn)Previous caution or care
Dutch voorzorg, voorzorgsmaatregel
- voorzorgA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- voorzorgsmaatregelA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Esperanto antaŭrimedo
- antaŭrimedoA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Finnish varotoimi, varokeino
- varotoimiA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- varokeinoA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- varotoimenpideA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- ryhtyä varotoimenpiteisiinTo take precaution against
French précaution
- précautionPrevious caution or care
German Vorsorge, Vorsichtsmaßnahme
- VorsorgePrevious caution or care
- VorsichtsmaßnahmeA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Indonesian langkah pencegahan
- langkah pencegahanPrevious caution or care
Japanese 予防, 用心
- 予防 (yobō)Previous caution or care
- 用心 (yōjin)Previous caution or care
Latin provisio, provisio
- provisioPrevious caution or care
- provisioPrevious caution or care
- provisioA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Māori whakatūpato, whakatūpato
- whakatūpatoA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- whakatūpatoTo warn or caution beforehand
Norwegian sikkerhetsforanstaltning
- sikkerhetsforanstaltningPrevious caution or care
Norwegian Bokmål forholdsregel, sikkerhetsforanstaltning
- forholdsregelA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- sikkerhetsforanstaltningA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Persian احتیاط, اقدام احتیاطی
- احتیاط (ehtiyât)Previous caution or care
- اقدام احتیاطی (eqdâm-e ehtiyâti)A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Russian предосторо́жность, предусмотри́тельность
- предосторо́жность (predostoróžnostʹ)Previous caution or care
- предусмотри́тельность (predusmotrítelʹnostʹ)Previous caution or care
- предосторо́жность (predostoróžnostʹ)A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
Spanish precaución, precaución
- precauciónPrevious caution or care
- precauciónA measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success
- precaucionarseTo take precaution against
Swedish försiktighetsåtgärd, säkerhetsåtgärd
- försiktighetsåtgärdPrevious caution or care
- säkerhetsåtgärdPrevious caution or care
Turkish önlem
- önlemPrevious caution or care
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
precaution. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precaution
“precaution.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precaution. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “precaution,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precaution.
Source: precaution on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.