prevent
pronunciation
How to pronounce prevent in British English:
UK [prɪˈvent]
How to pronounce prevent in American English:
US [prɪˈvent]
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- Verb:
- keep from happening or arising; have the effect of preventing
- prevent from doing something or being in a certain state
Word Origin
- prevent
- prevent: [15] If you prevent someone, you ‘come before’ them (and indeed that literal meaning of the verb survived for some time: Thomas Cromwell wrote in 1538 ‘I have sent it unto him after the departure of the said Muriell, to the intent he might prevent the ambassadors post and you have leisure to consult and advise upon the same’; and as late as 1766 we find in Frances Sheridan’s Sidney Biddulph ‘I am an early riser, yet my lord V – prevented me the next morning, for I found him in the parlour when I came downstairs’).The word comes from Latin praevenīre, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and venīre ‘come’. Already in Latin, though, it had progressed semantically from ‘come before’ via ‘act in advance of, anticipate’ to ‘hinder’, and this meaning emerged in English in the 16th century.=> adventure, venue
- prevent (v.)
- early 15c., "act in anticipation of," from Latin praeventus, past participle of praevenire "come before, anticipate, hinder," in Late Latin also "to prevent," from prae "before" (see pre-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Originally literal; sense of "anticipate to hinder" was in Latin, but not recorded in English until 1540s.
Example
- 1. So how can china prevent a hard landing ?
- 2. Instead , agus would like to prevent these diseases from happening in the first place .
- 3. Such a small financial penalty from regulators won 't prevent unlawful behavior .
- 4. We know how to prevent malaria epidemics .
- 5. Omega-3 fatty acids will help prevent cardiovascular disease .