prevention
Americannoun
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the act of preventing; effectual hindrance.
-
a preventive.
This serum is a prevention against disease.
noun
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the act of preventing
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a hindrance, obstacle, or impediment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prevention
1520–30; < Late Latin praeventiōn- (stem of praeventiō ) a forestalling. See prevent, -ion
Explanation
When an action stops something from happening, like assigning extra teachers to watch a playground during recess to prevent bullying, it's called prevention. The noun prevention comes up most often when people are trying to keep something bad in check, like crime, disease, or forest fires. Educating kids about nutrition is one form of obesity prevention, for example, and lowering speed limits can help with accident prevention. The word prevent is at the root of prevention, and it comes from the Latin praeventus, "anticipate or hinder."
Vocabulary lists containing prevention
Word Generation Weekly - Series 2
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Chemical Engineering
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lewin recently announced an expanded partnership with the fund to provide HIV prevention across Africa.
From Salon • Jun. 23, 2026
Because of the potential for transmission, suspected Andes virus infections require strict infection prevention and control measures.
From Science Daily • Jun. 22, 2026
Wearing T-shirts proclaiming "Victim exploitation does not equal victim advocacy", the parents of Gabby Petito have their own booth to promote their foundation, which supports missing persons cases and domestic violence prevention.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2026
The security industry previously focused on detection, but AI-armed hackers and new AI models require a return to prevention.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
A year later he became director of WHO’s HIV/AIDS department, focusing on initiatives to help poor countries scale up their treatment, prevention, and care programs.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
