Precautions

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɹiːˈkɔːʃənz/

Definitions

1. Actions undertaken beforehand to reduce the risk of harm
2. Steps devised to protect against potential dangers or undesirable outcomes
3. Measures that are planned and implemented ahead of time to avoid possible dangers or adverse effects

Etymology: "Precautions" is the plural of "precaution," and the word is a compound built from two Latin parts: "prae," meaning "before," and "cavere," meaning "to be on one's guard." Together they gave Latin "praecavere," to guard against something in advance, and the noun "praecautio" that grew from it. The sense is literally forethought: a guard set up before the danger arrives. English took the word through French "précaution," and it kept the original logic intact. The English noun shares its ancestry with "caution," which comes from the same Latin "cavere," so the two words are close relatives. "Caution" looks to the present moment, while "precaution" pushes the watchfulness backward in time, to the step taken before anything has gone wrong.

Synonyms: safeguards, measures, provisions, alerts, cautions

Antonyms: negligence, carelessness, recklessness, hazard, danger