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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

preventive en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin praeventīvus. Equivalent to prevent + -ive.

Meanings

  1. Preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.
    • ...and I sometimes think whether, like the ancient king, it would not be prudent to make an offering to destiny, and throw my set of emeralds into the lake." Emily could not but deprecate the emeralds being destined to any such preventive service;... 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 146:
  2. Carried out to deter military aggression.
  3. Slowing the development of an illness; prophylactic.
    • Physick is either curative or preventive. 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
  4. (obsolete) Going before; preceding.
    • Any previous counsel or preventive understanding. 1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more preventive Degree=Cmp lexicographic
preventative alternative lexicographic
most preventive Degree=Sup lexicographic

Deriveds

preventive war · pathopreventive · preventive healthcare · immunopreventive · preventiveness · angiopreventive · nonpreventive · preventivist · preventive service · renopreventive · unpreventive · preventive medicine · preventively · chemopreventive

Translations (33)

bg предпазен (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · nn førebyggjande (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · ar اِحْتِرَازِيّ (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · fi ennaltaehkäisevä (slowing the development of an illness) · de vorsorglich (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · fi ennaltaehkäisevä (carried out to deter military aggression) · ar وِقَائِيّ (slowing the development of an illness) · de präventiv (slowing the development of an illness) · hy կանխարգելիչ (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · de vorbeugend (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · ja 抑止力となる (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · ca غارprofilàctic (slowing the development of an illness) · fi estävä (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · cs preventivní (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · bg превантивен (carried out to deter military aggression) · pl zapobiegawczy (slowing the development of an illness) · ga toirmeascach (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · fr préventif (slowing the development of an illness) · hy կանխարգելիչ (slowing the development of an illness) · de vorbeugend (slowing the development of an illness) · ca preventiu (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · sv förebyggande (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · ar رَدْعِيّ (carried out to deter military aggression) · es preventivo (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · tl pang-apula (slowing the development of an illness) · ca preventiu (carried out to deter military aggression) · de präventiv (carried out to deter military aggression) · fr préventif (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · fi ennaltaehkäisevä (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · tl pang-apula (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · nb forebyggende (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · de präventiv (preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to) · bg профилактичен (slowing the development of an illness)

preventive en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin praeventīvus. Equivalent to prevent + -ive.

Meanings

  1. (dated) A thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.
    • Dogs should be warmly but airily housed; heartily, but not heatingly, fed — old Indian meal, mixed with oatmeal, suppawn, is the best general food, with a small quantity of salt, which is a preventive against worms […] 1856, Henry William Herbert, The Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen:
  2. (dated) A thing that slows the development of an illness.
    • Eaten with sugar yaourt is very palatable and refreshing in warm weather and is said to be a preventive of fever. 1885, Cyprus guide and directory, page 82:
    • A good preventive against heart disease is a healthy lifestyle.
  3. A contraceptive, especially a condom.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
preventives Number=Plur lexicographic
preventative alternative lexicographic

Synonyms

prophylactic