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.}}

Noun

(en noun)

A rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.

* 2006 : , The Gift of Language

** I need hardly point out that Pinker doesn't really believe anything of what he writes, at least if example is stronger evidence of belief than precept .

* 1891 :

** He found a people in the extreme of barbarism living in caves, feeding upon the bloody flesh of animals they killed in hunting; he taught them many things, so that by his example, and for generations after he left them by his precepts , they advanced to high civilization.

(legal) A written command, especially a demand for payment.