Meanings
comparative more preventive · superlative most preventive · alternative preventative
- 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 - Carried out to deter military aggression.
- 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 - obsoleteGoing before; preceding.
Any previous counsel or preventive understanding.
1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe
plural preventives · alternative preventative
- datedA 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 - datedA thing that slows the development of an illness.
A good preventive against heart disease is a healthy lifestyle.
1 more example
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 contraceptive, especially a condom.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivepreventing or contributing to the prevention of disease
adjectivetending to prevent or hinder
nounremedy that prevents or slows the course of an illness or disease
nounany obstruction that impedes or is burdensome
nounan agent or device intended to prevent conception
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- New Latinpraeventīvus
- Englishpreventive
Borrowed from New Latin praeventīvus. Equivalent to prevent + -ive.
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِحْتِرَازِيّ, رَدْعِيّ
- اِحْتِرَازِيّ (iḥtirāziyy)preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- رَدْعِيّ (radʕiyy)carried out to deter military aggression
- وِقَائِيّ (wiqāʔiyy)slowing the development of an illness
Bulgarian предпазен, превантивен
- предпазен (predpazen)preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- превантивен (prevantiven)carried out to deter military aggression
- профилактичен (profilaktičen)slowing the development of an illness
Catalan preventiu, preventiu
- preventiupreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- preventiucarried out to deter military aggression
- غارprofilàcticslowing the development of an illness
Czech preventivní
- preventivnípreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Finnish ennaltaehkäisevä, estävä
- ennaltaehkäiseväpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- estäväpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- ennaltaehkäiseväcarried out to deter military aggression
- ennaltaehkäiseväslowing the development of an illness
French préventif, préventif
- préventifpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- préventifslowing the development of an illness
German vorbeugend, präventiv
- vorbeugendpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- präventivpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- vorsorglichpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- präventivcarried out to deter military aggression
- vorbeugendslowing the development of an illness
- präventivslowing the development of an illness
Irish toirmeascach
- toirmeascachpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Japanese 抑止力となる
- 抑止力となるpreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Norwegian Bokmål forebyggende
- forebyggendepreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Polish zapobiegawczy
- zapobiegawczyslowing the development of an illness
Spanish preventivo
- preventivopreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Swedish förebyggande
- förebyggandepreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
Tagalog pang-apula, pang-apula
- pang-apulapreventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to
- pang-apulaslowing the development of an illness
Cite this entry
preventive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preventive
“preventive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preventive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preventive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preventive.
Source: preventive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.