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preventive

Pronunciation: /pɹɪˈvɛntɪv/

The English word “preventive” has 7 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.
  2. Carried out to deter military aggression.
  3. Slowing the development of an illness; prophylactic.
  4. Going before; preceding.

noun

  1. A thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.
  2. A thing that slows the development of an illness.
  3. A contraceptive, especially a condom.

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin praeventīvus. Equivalent to prevent + -ive.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.