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Synonyms for prophylactic


Grammar : Adj
Spell : proh-fuh-lak-tik, prof-uh-
Phonetic Transcription : ˌproʊ fəˈlæk tɪk, ˌprɒf ə-



Définition of prophylactic

Origin :
  • 1570s, originally of medicines, "that tends to prevent disease," from Middle French prophylactique (16c.) and directly as a Latinized borrowing of Greek prophylaktikos "precautionary," from prophylassein "keep guard before, ward off, be on one's guard," from pro- "before" (see pro-) + phylassein, Ionic variant of phylattein "to watch over, to guard," but also "cherish, keep, remain in, preserve" (see phylactery).
  • The noun is first recorded 1640s, "a medicine or treatment to prevent disease;" meaning "condom" is from 1943, replacing earlier preventive (1822), preventative (1901). Condoms originally were used more to thwart contagious disease than to prevent pregnancy.
  • adj protective
Example sentences :
  • I find that as a prophylactic a little brandy is almost a necessity in this climate.
  • Extract from : « Cabbages and Kings » by O. Henry
  • And he stayed two or three hours; and he used no prophylactic.
  • Extract from : « Woman » by William J. Robinson
  • It is not only an antidote, but one of those antidotes which taken in time is prophylactic.
  • Extract from : « Lux Mundi » by Various
  • Cold infusion of tar was used in our colonies as a prophylactic against the Small Pox.
  • Extract from : « Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease » by John Grove
  • Certain physicians employed a prophylactic remedy made up of very many substances.
  • Extract from : « Catholic Churchmen in Science » by James J. Walsh
  • Its prophylactic or preventive tendencies are much more valuable.
  • Extract from : « Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders » by William A. Alcott
  • As a prophylactic measure against infection the avoidance of too intimate association with dogs is especially to be recommended.
  • Extract from : « A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II » by Various
  • This was not done as a means of rendering the examination easier, but as a prophylactic measure.
  • Extract from : « A Treatise on Gunshot Wounds » by Thomas Longmore
  • We have improved upon nature;—and our artifice has been prophylactic by virtue of being in a certain sense developmental.
  • Extract from : « Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death » by Frederick W. H. Myers
  • According to Hahnemann, Koreff, and Randhahn, belladonna is a prophylactic against scarlet fever.
  • Extract from : « Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II » by Arnold Cooley

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019