Cautiously
adverbIn a careful, wary way that avoids risk or danger.
How to spell cautiously
10 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce cautiously
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does cautiously mean?
- adverbIn a careful, wary way that avoids risk or danger.
Cautiously in a sentence
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She drove cautiously along the icy motorway.
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The manager responded cautiously to the surprise takeover offer.
Where does cautiously come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word traces back to the Latin verb cavere, which meant 'to be on guard' or 'to take heed', and its past participle cautus, meaning 'careful' or 'wary'. From cautus came the noun cautio, a 'taking of care', which passed through Old French and entered English in the 1500s as 'caution'. The adjective 'cautious' was then formed in English by adding the suffix -ious, and the adverb 'cautiously' simply adds -ly on top. The same cavere root also gives us the legal warning 'caveat', literally 'let him beware', which is a handy reminder that the heart of the word is about taking care. The tricky part of the spelling is the -tious cluster, where a 'sh' sound is written 'ti', a pattern English inherited along with the Latin form.
How the word is built
- caut- (from Latin cautus: careful, on guard)
- -ious (full of)
- -ly (adverb)
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