Definition of: caveat

(kā′vē·at) noun
1. Law A formal notification to a court or officer not to take a certain step till the notifier is heard.
2. A description of an invention that is not fully perfected, formerly filed in the U.S. Patent Office, which entitled the person filing it to three months' notice before the issuing of a patent for a like invention to another.
3. A caution. [<L, let him beware]