prevent
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- prævent (archaic)
Etymology edit
From Middle English preventen (“anticipate”), from Latin praeventus, perfect passive participle of praeveniō (“I anticipate”), from prae (“before”) + veniō (“I come”).
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /pɹɪˈvɛnt/
Audio (US) (file) - (weak vowel merger) IPA(key): /pɹəˈvɛnt/
- Rhymes: -ɛnt
- Hyphenation: pre‧vent
Verb edit
prevent (third-person singular simple present prevents, present participle preventing, simple past and past participle prevented)
- (transitive) To stop (an outcome); to keep from (doing something). [from 16th c.]
- I brush my teeth regularly to prevent tooth decay.
- 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Scotland must now hope Georgia produce a huge upset and beat Argentina by at least eight points in Sunday's final Pool B match to prevent them failing to make the last eight for the first time in World Cup history.
- (intransitive, now rare) To take preventative measures. [from 16th c.]
- 1897 October 16, Henry James, What Maisie Knew, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Herbert S. Stone & Co., →OCLC:
- I think you must be mad, and she shall not have a glimpse of it while I'm here to prevent!
- (obsolete, transitive) To come before; to precede. [16th–18th c.]
- 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC:
- We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Thessalonians 4:15:
- We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
- 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page 448:
- Then had I come, preventing Sheba's Queen, / To ſee the comelieſt of the Sons of Men; […]
- (obsolete, transitive) To outdo, surpass. [16th–17th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC:
- With that he put his spurres vnto his steed, / With speare in rest, and toward him did fare, / Like shaft out of a bow preuenting speed.
- (obsolete, transitive) To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
- c. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:
- their ready guilt preventing thy commands
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus:hinder
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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References edit
- “prevent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.