||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.
&fist; 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.
