You searched for: “caveat
caveat (s) (noun), caveats (pl)
1. An explanation or warning that should be remembered when anyone is doing or thinking about doing something: Manfred's investment advice came with a caveat that the stock market is impossible to forecast with complete accuracy.
2. A formal notice filed with a court or law officer to suspend a prosecution until after the person who is filing is given a hearing: Susan’s lawyer submitted a caveat asking for a break in the trial giving her a chance to testify and to give evidence as to what really happened before the legal proceedings continue.
A warning that something could happen.
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An admonition not to do something.
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This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group C (page 3)
Word Entries containing the term: “caveat
caveat emptor (s) (noun), caveat emptors (pl)
Let the buyer beware!

The principle rule that a buyer cannot assume that his or her purchase will be exactly as hoped for or promised.

The full version is: Caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit. "Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party."

The well-known shorter version, Caveat Emptor applies to the purchase of land and goods, with certain restrictions, both as to the title and quality of the thing sold. Out of the legal sphere and as a non-legalistic usage, the phrase is used as a warning to a buyer regarding any articles of doubtful quality offered for sale.

This legal terminology means, the purchaser or buyer, not the seller, is responsible for protecting the himself or herself in the transaction.

Caveat emptor is the opposite of "caveat venditor" in that, according to Eugene Ehrlich: Whereas caveat emptor has a long history in common law, "caveat venditor" is just now coming into prominence as a result of the consumer-rights movement.

Under "caveat venditor", the seller is assumed to be more sophisticated than the purchaser and so he or she must bear responsibility for protecting the unwary purchaser.

The purchaser, emptor, is a child who must be protected against his or her own mistakes, while the seller, "venditor", is the big, bad wolf lying in wait for Little Red Riding Hood. So while the two rules struggle for preeminence, attorneys gleefully watch—and litigate.

—Eugene Ehrlich in his Amo, Amas, Amat and More, How to Use Latin to Your Own Advantage and to the Astonishment of Others, Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.; New York; 1985; pages 77-78.
Let the buyer beware.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Be careful of what you are about to do.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group C (page 3)