prophylactic

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun remedy that prevents or slows the course of an illness or disease
noun contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse
adjective capable of preventing conception or impregnation

From Latin prophylacticus, from Ancient Greek προφυλακτικός (prophulaktikós, “prophylactic”).

He even regarded it as a prophylactic against certain diseases. — The Life of Sir Richard Burton, Thomas Wright
She gave him a humorously exaggerated account of the prophylactic measures her mother had submitted her to the night before, and she concluded: "I'm awfully sorry mother's not at home--mother and my sister Portia. — The Real Adventure, Henry Kitchell Webster
The good spirits are the spirits of trees that bear edible fruits, of the trees from which arrows are made, of the Coca erythroxylon, of the astringent properties of various herbs, of the medicine-man’s magic stones that may be used as a prophylactic. — The North-West Amazons: Notes of some months spent among cannibal tribes, Thomas Whiffen

preventive, preventative

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