caveat emptor
/ˈkæv.iˌɑt ˈɛmp.tɔɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.06 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Used as a warning to anyone purchasing something that there may be unforeseen problems or faults with the item that is purchased.
phrase
A provision of Roman law which gave the seller of a house the legal right to keep quiet about any defects of the house.
Example Sentences
- "In an email she wrote that the lack of regulation “leads to difficulty extrapolating available evidence to various products on the consumer market given the differences in chemical composition and purity.” She cautioned the public to weigh “both potential benefits and risks,” to which I would add caveat emptor — buyer beware."
Etymology
Latin for “buyer beware”; from Latin caveat (“may he / she / subject-noun beware”), the third-person subjunctive of caveō (“to beware”) + ēmptor (“buyer”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkæv.iˌɑt ˈɛmp.tɔɹ/
- British English: /ˈkeɪ.viˌæt ˈɛmp.tɔ(ɹ)/