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.
例文
1. A dentist may decide to extract the tooth to prevent recurrent trouble.
歯医者は反復発作を起こさないようにその歯を抜くことを決定する可能性がある。
2.The security zone was set up to prevent guerrilla infiltrations.
ゲリラの侵入を防ぐための安全区が設けられている。
3.Smear Vaseline on to your baby 's skin to prevent soreness.
子供の皮膚にワセリンを塗って腫れや痛みを防ぐ。
4.The security forces had to intervene to prevent the situation worsening.
治安部隊は、情勢のさらなる悪化を防ぐために介入せざるを得ない。
5.Police are out in force to prevent a recurrence of the violence.