Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CAU'TION, n. [L. cautio; Fr. caution; Sp. caucion; from L. caveo, to take care. See Class Gb, No. 3, 52, 53, 83. The sense of caveo is probably to retire, or to stop, check or hold.]

1. Provident care; prudence in regard to danger; wariness, consisting in a careful attention to the probable effects of a measure, and a judicious course of conduct to avoid evils and the arts of designing men. Caution is the armor to defend us against imposition and the attacks of evil.
2. Security for, nearly the sense of the French caution, bail. The parliament would give his majesty sufficient caution that the war should be prosecuted. – Clarendon.
3. Provision or security against; measures taken for security; as, the rules and cautions of government.
4. Precept; advice; injunction; warning; exhortation, intended as security or guard against evil.