prevail
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English prevailen, from Old French prevaler, from Latin praevaleō (“be very able or more able, be superior, prevail”), from prae (“before”) + valeō (“be able or powerful”). Displaced native Old English rīcsian.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
prevail (third-person singular simple present prevails, present participle prevailing, simple past and past participle prevailed)
- (intransitive) To be superior in strength, dominance, influence, or frequency; to have or gain the advantage over others; to have the upper hand; to outnumber others.
- Red colour prevails in the Canadian flag.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 17:11:
- And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
- 2022 February 27, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Liverpool created a host of chances and had a Joel Matip goal ruled out for a foul and offside in an incident-packed game that went right down to the wire before Jurgen Klopp's side prevailed.
- (intransitive) To triumph; to be victorious.
- 2019 January 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-2935 - O, Death” (0:36 from the start), in The Exploring Series[2], archived from the original on 25 March 2023:
- There are a number of SCPs and tales that look at potential apocalypses, but rarely with such totality as SCP-2935, a parallel dimension in which death prevailed.
- (intransitive) To be current, widespread, or predominant; to have currency or prevalence.
- In his day and age, such practices prevailed all over Europe.
- (intransitive) To succeed in persuading or inducing.
- I prevailed on him to wait.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
- Jones began to be very importunate with the lady to unmask; and at length having prevailed, there appeared not Mrs Fitzpatrick, but the Lady Bellaston herself.
- (transitive, obsolete) To avail.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
To be superior in strength, dominance, influence or frequency; to have or gain the advantage over others; to have the upper hand
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To be current, widespread or predominant; to have currency or prevalence
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To succeed in persuading or inducing
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References edit
- “prevail”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “prevail”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.