Where does “precautionary” come from?
Precautionary derives from English precaution plus the suffix -ary, from Latin praecautio, from praecavere meaning "to guard against beforehand," from prae- meaning "before" and cavere meaning "to beware," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European preh₂-.
precautionary (English): Of, pertaining to, or serving as a precaution; A...
Definitions
- Of, pertaining to, or serving as a precaution; A...
Ancestry of “precautionary”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | precaution | Previous caution or care; caution previously... |
| 2 | French | précaution | precaution; prudence, wariness |
| 3 | Latin | praecautiō | precaution |
| 4 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 5 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 6 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 7 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 8 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 9 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 10 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |