- Caveat emptor
- Caveat Ca"ve*at, n. [L. caved let him beware, pres. subj. of
cavere to be on one's guard to, beware.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Law) A notice given by an interested party to some
officer not to do a certain act until the party is heard
in opposition; as, a caveat entered in a probate court to
stop the proving of a will or the taking out of letters of
administration, etc. --Bouvier.
[1913 Webster]
2. (U. S. Patent Laws) A description of some invention, designed to be patented, lodged in the patent office before the patent right is applied for, and operating as a bar to the issue of letters patent to any other person, respecting the same invention. [1913 Webster]
Note: A caveat is operative for one year only, but may be renewed. [1913 Webster]
3. Intimation of caution; warning; protest. [1913 Webster]
We think it right to enter our caveat against a conclusion. --Jeffrey. [1913 Webster]
{Caveat emptor} [L.] (Law), let the purchaser beware, i. e., let him examine the article he is buying, and act on his own judgment. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.