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Warning vs Beware - What's the difference?

warning | beware |

As verbs the difference between warning and beware

is that warning is present participle of lang=en while beware is to use caution, pay attention (to) (if intransitive, construed with of).

As a noun warning

is the action of the verb warn; an instance of warning someone.

As an interjection warning

is used to warn of danger in signs and notices.

warning

English

Verb

(head)
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness,

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The action of the verb warn; an instance of warning someone.
  • * , chapter=7
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”}}
  • Something spoken or written that is intended to warn.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.}}

    Derived terms

    * warning sign

    Interjection

    warning!
  • Used to warn of danger in signs and notices.

    • beware

    English

    Verb

  • (defective, ambitransitive) To use caution, pay attention (to) (if intransitive, construed with of ).
  • * Bible, Exodus xxiii. 20, 21
    • Behold, I send an Angel before thee. Beware of him, and obey his voice.
  • * , I.ii
    • Beware the Ides of March.

    Usage notes

    The verb beware'' has become a defective verb and now lacks forms such as the third-person singular simple present (bewares) and the simple past (bewared). It can only be used imperatively (''Beware of the dog!'') or as an infinitive (''You must beware of the dog'' or ''They told me to beware of the dog ). The inflected forms (bewares), (bewared), and (bewaring) are called obsolete in Fowler's , along with the simple indicative "I beware". The forms (bewares) and (bewared) are very rarely found in modern texts, though (bewaring) is slightly less rare. These inflections are more likely to be found in very old texts. The meanings conveyed by the obsolete inflected forms may be easily achieved by splitting "be" and "ware", conjugating "be", and possibly replacing "ware" with the more modern "wary"; thus, "bewares" > "is wary", "bewared" > "was wary", etc.