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Definition of prevent - 5 dictionary results

pre⋅vent

[pri-vent]
–verb (used with object)
1. to keep from occurring; avert; hinder: He intervened to prevent bloodshed.
2. to hinder or stop from doing something: There is nothing to prevent us from going.
3. Archaic. to act ahead of; forestall.
4. Archaic. to precede.
5. Archaic. to anticipate.
–verb (used without object)
6. to interpose a hindrance: He will come if nothing prevents.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L praeventus (ptp. of praevenīre to anticipate), equiv. to prae- pre- + ven- (s. of venīre to come ) + -tus ptp. suffix


pre⋅vent⋅a⋅ble, pre⋅vent⋅i⋅ble, adjective
pre⋅vent⋅a⋅bil⋅ty, noun
pre⋅vent⋅ing⋅ly, adverb


1. obstruct, forestall, preclude, obviate, thwart. Prevent, hamper, hinder, impede refer to different degrees of stoppage of action or progress. To prevent is to stop something effectually by forestalling action and rendering it impossible: to prevent the sending of a message. To hamper is to clog or entangle or put an embarrassing restraint upon: to hamper preparations for a trip. To hinder is to keep back by delaying or stopping progress or action: to hinder the progress of an expedition. To impede is to make difficult the movement or progress of anything by interfering with its proper functioning: to impede a discussion by demanding repeated explanations.


1. help, assist.
pre·vent   (prĭ-věnt')   
v.   pre·vent·ed, pre·vent·ing, pre·vents

v.   tr.
  1. To keep from happening: took steps to prevent the strike.
  2. To keep (someone) from doing something; impede: prevented us from winning.
  3. Archaic To anticipate or counter in advance.
  4. Archaic To come before; precede.
v.   intr.
To present an obstacle: There will be a picnic if nothing prevents.

[Middle English preventen, to anticipate, from Latin praevenīre, praevent- : prae-, pre- + venīre, to come; see gwā- in Indo-European roots.]
pre·vent'a·bil'i·ty, pre·vent'i·bil'i·ty n., pre·vent'a·ble, pre·vent'i·ble adj., pre·vent'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to stop or hinder something from happening, especially by advance planning or action. Prevent implies anticipatory counteraction: "The surest way to prevent war is not to fear it" (John Randolph).
To preclude is to exclude the possibility of an event or action: "a tranquillity which . . . his wife's presence would have precluded" (John Henry Newman).
To avert is to ward off something about to happen: The pilot's quick thinking averted an accident.
Obviate implies that something, such as a difficulty, has been anticipated and disposed of effectively: "the objections . . . having . . . been obviated in the preceding chapter" (Joseph Butler).
Forestall usually suggests anticipatory measures taken to counteract, neutralize, or nullify the effects of something: We installed an alarm system to forestall break-ins.

Prevent

Pre*vent"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prevented; p. pr. & vb. n. Preventing.] [L. praevenire, praeventum; prae before + venire to come. See Come.]

1. To go before; to precede; hence, to go before as a guide; to direct. [Obs.]

We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. --1 Thess. iv. 15.

We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us. --Bk. of Common Prayer.

Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen. --Prior.

2. To be beforehand with; to anticipate. [Obs.]

Their ready guilt preventing thy commands. --Pope.

3. To intercept; to hinder; to frustrate; to stop; to thwart. "This vile purpose to prevent." --Shak.

Perhaps forestalling night prevented them. --Milton.

Prevent

Pre*vent"\, v. i. To come before the usual time. [Obs.]

Strawberries . . . will prevent and come early. --Bacon.
Language Translation for : prevent
Spanish: impedir,
German: hindern,
Japanese: じゃまする

prevent 
1432, "to act in anticipation of," from L. præventus, pp. of prævenire "come before, anticipate, hinder," in L.L. also "to prevent," from præ "before" + venire "to come" (see venue). Originally literal; sense of "anticipate to hinder" was in L., but not recorded in Eng. until 1560. Preventive in the medical sense is recorded from 1646.
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