Caveat \Ca"ve*at\, n. [L. caved let him beware, pres. subj. of cavere to be on one's guard to, beware.]

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.

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.

Note: A caveat is operative for one year only, but may be renewed.

3. Intimation of caution; warning; protest.

We think it right to enter our caveat against a conclusion. --Jeffrey.

Caveat emptor [L.]

(Law), let the purchaser beware, i. e., let him examine the article he is buying, and act on his own judgment.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)