prophylactic
English
editEtymology
editFrom Latin, from Ancient Greek πρό (pró, “before”) + φύλαξις (phúlaxis, “a watching, guarding”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɹɒfəˈlæktɪk/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: pro‧phy‧lac‧tic
- Rhymes: -æktɪk
Noun
editprophylactic (plural prophylactics)
- A medicine which preserves or defends against disease; a preventive.
- (US, specifically) A prophylactic condom.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:condom
- 1977, Human Life Center, International Review of Natural Family Planning, Human Life Center, St. John's University, page 2:
- It is not clear whether such education is to be directed to homosexuals (for whom prophylactics are not a contraceptive) or to heterosexuals as well (for whom prophylactics are a contraceptive).
- 1994, Mary Louise Roberts, Civilization Without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France, 1917–1927, University of Chicago Press, page 96:
- Given the widespread use of coitus interruptus and male prophylactics as contraceptive practices in France […]
- 2000, Peter Parnell, John Irving, The Cider House Rules: Here in St. Cloud's, Dramatists Play Service, Inc., page 46:
- Some men put the prophylactic on just the tip of the penis: this is a mistake, because the prophylactic will come off.
- (US, specifically) A prophylactic condom.
- (figuratively) Any device or mechanism intended to prevent harmful consequences.
- 1984 December 8, Robert Halfhill, “Pornography, Free Speech and Gay Separatism”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 21, page 5:
- Since tere are increasingly powerful anti-free speech tendencies in the left in general and in the Lesbian and Gay movements in particular in the form of the antiporn movement and other tendencies, I will quote extensively from the second chapter of On Liberty, "On The Liberty Of Thought And Discussion," as a valuable and much needed prophylactic to these trends.
- The securities laws are a prophylactic against stock fraud.
Translations
editpreventive medicine
|
device or mechanism
|
Adjective
editprophylactic (comparative more prophylactic, superlative most prophylactic)
Translations
editTranslations
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Synonyms
editDerived terms
editRelated terms
editInterlingua
editAdjective
editprophylactic (not comparable)
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- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
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- Rhymes:English/æktɪk
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- en:Birth control
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