prevalence

American  

[prev-uh-luhns] / ˈprɛv ə ləns /

Rarely prevalentness

noun

• prevalences
  plural

1. the condition of being prevalent, or widespread.

   The study examines the prevalence of profanity in video games.

2. the degree to which something is prevalent or widespread, especially a disease, disorder, or pathogen.

   The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising worldwide.

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Usage

What does prevalence mean? Prevalence is the state or condition of being widespread or in general use or acceptance. Prevalence is the noun form of the adjective prevalent, meaning widespread, common, or extensive. In the context of medicine, prevalence refers to how widespread a disease is—specifically, the total number of cases in a population at a given time. Example: The prevalence of social media use among teens is often linked to the rise in mental health issues like anxiety.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprevalence
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prevalences
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of prevalence

First recorded in 1600–10; from French prévalence, from Latin praevalēntia, from praevalent-, stem of praevalēns (present participle of praevalēre “to be more able”) + -ia -y ³ ( def. ); see prevail ( def. )

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Explanation

Prevalence means there is a lot of something. If you get a bad grade on a paper for having a prevalence of typos, you need to proofread your work more carefully. The word prevalence comes from the Latin praevalere, meaning "condition of being widespread or general." The word is often used to describe a phenomenon that is widespread in a community, like the prevalence of a disease across a country. Prevalence is another word for "commonness." If there's a prevalence of thefts in your neighborhood, that means the likelihood of your house getting robbed is pretty high.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prevalence prevalences

My follow-up conversation with Mishra brought up another change afoot in America beyond our aging demographics: the prevalence of GLP-1 usage.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Among men, prevalence began increasing at younger ages.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

The Times previously reported the prevalence of tee-time brokering, in which scores of local golfers shared frustrations over their inability to secure a tee time on public courses in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Lampasas is part of a growing roster of school districts struggling with the prevalence of high-caffeine beverages in classrooms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The surveys found a range of prevalence of “Internet addiction” among young people and adults across the globe.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

"Obviously poverty is likely to play an important role, but other countries with similar per capita incomes have lower prevalences of child stunting," said Doak.

From Reuters ● Feb. 4, 2013

Given a world without religious faith, in full social revolution, with possibilities of wealth and power dangled before every man's eyes—what can you expect but the prevalences of a more or less ferocious egoism?

From Our Friend the Charlatan by George Gissing

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Related Words

• pervasiveness
• popularity

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