prophylactic

[proh-fuh-lak-tik, prof-uh-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR prophylactic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

defending or protecting from disease or infection, as a drug.

preventive or protective.

noun

Medicine/Medical. a prophylactic medicine or measure.

a preventive.

a device, usually a rubber sheath, used to prevent conception or venereal infection; condom.

Origin of prophylactic

1565–75; < Greek prophylaktikós of guarding, equivalent to prophylak- (base of prophylássein to guard beforehand) + -tikos -tic. See prophylaxis

Related formspro·phy·lac·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for prophylactic

contraceptive, preventative, preventive

Examples from the Web for prophylactic

Contemporary Examples of prophylactic

Section 5, by contrast, works as a prophylactic measure, stopping discrimination before it can occur.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling and the End of the Civil-Rights Era
Adam Winkler
June 25, 2013
In some sense, their embrace of self-described black conservatives can be seen as a prophylactic measure.
How to Get a White Vote
Jamelle Bouie
June 21, 2013
Six months later, at a hospital 600 miles from home, my mom underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy.
I’m 25 and I Have the Angie Gene
Abby Haglage
May 15, 2013
The speech contained a sentence of prophylactic praise for initiative and enterprise, hard work and personal responsibility.
Obama's Fighting Speech - Part 2
David Frum
January 21, 2013
Yet many doctors recommend aspirin as a prophylactic for everyone at risk of heart disease.
Giving Medicine a Dose of Free Speech
David Frum
December 10, 2012

Historical Examples of prophylactic

I find that as a prophylactic a little brandy is almost a necessity in this climate.
Cabbages and Kings
O. Henry
And he stayed two or three hours; and he used no prophylactic.
Woman
William J. Robinson
It is not only an antidote, but one of those antidotes which taken in time is prophylactic.
Lux Mundi
Various
Cold infusion of tar was used in our colonies as a prophylactic against the Small Pox.
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease
John Grove
Certain physicians employed a prophylactic remedy made up of very many substances.
Catholic Churchmen in Science
James J. Walsh

British Dictionary definitions for prophylactic

prophylactic

adjective

protecting from or preventing disease

protective or preventive

noun

a prophylactic drug or device, esp a condom

Word Origin for prophylactic

C16: via French from Greek prophulaktikos, from prophulassein to guard by taking advance measures, from pro- ² + phulax a guard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for prophylactic

adj.

1570s, originally of medicines, "that tends to prevent disease," from Middle French prophylactique (16c.) and directly as a Latinized borrowing of Greek prophylaktikos "precautionary," from prophylassein "keep guard before, ward off, be on one's guard," from pro- "before" (see pro-) + phylassein, Ionic variant of phylattein "to watch over, to guard," but also "cherish, keep, remain in, preserve" (see phylactery).

The noun is first recorded 1640s, "a medicine or treatment to prevent disease;" meaning "condom" is from 1943, replacing earlier preventive (1822), preventative (1901). Condoms originally were used more to thwart contagious disease than to prevent pregnancy.

prophylactic in Medicine

prophylactic

[prō′fə-lăk′tĭk, prŏf′ə-]

n.

A prophylactic agent, device, or measure, such as a vaccine or drug.

A contraceptive device, especially a condom.

adj.

Acting to defend against or prevent something, especially disease; protective.