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preventive

pre·ven·tive

UK/pɹɪˈvɛntɪv/ US/priˈvɛnɪv/ rare dated obsolete
adjective (3) noun (3)

adjective

1.

preventing or contributing to the prevention of disease

  • “preventive medicine”
  • “vaccines are prophylactic”
  • “a prophylactic drug”
Synonyms
Similar
2.
3.

tending to ward off

  • “the swastika...a very ancient prophylactic symbol occurring among all peoples” Victor Schultze
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.

remedy that prevents or slows the course of an illness or disease

  • “the doctor recommended several preventatives”
Synonyms
2.
3.

Origin

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

Phrases

  • preventive healthcare
  • preventive medicine
  • preventive service
  • preventive war

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.