different between precarious vs precautious

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???k???i.?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???k??i.?s/
• Rhymes: -???i?s
• Hyphenation: pre?ca?ri?ous

Etymology 1

From Latin prec?rius (“begged for, obtained by entreaty”), from prex, precis (“prayer”). Compare French précaire, Portuguese precário, and Spanish and Italian precario.

Adjective

precarious (comparative more precarious, superlative most precarious)

1. (comparable) Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous.
2. (law) Depending on the intention of another.

Usage notes

Because the pre- element of precarious derives from prex and not the preposition prae, this term cannot — etymologically speaking — be written as *præcarious.

Quotations

• 1906, Jack London, White Fang, part I, ch III,

  Never had he been so fond of this body of his as now when his tenure of it was so precarious.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): unsteady, rickety, shaky, tottering, unsafe, unstable, wobbly

Derived terms

Related terms

• pray

Translations

Further reading

• precarious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• precarious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Precarious in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Etymology 2

pre- + carious

Adjective

precarious (not comparable)

1. (dentistry) Relating to incipient caries.

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -????s

Adjective

precautious (comparative more precautious, superlative most precautious)

1. Taking precautions.