prevalent

Prevalent is an adjective describing something that exists widely or constantly in a given place or time. It implies widespread occurrence or acceptance rather than novelty. It can refer to diseases, beliefs, practices, opinions, or cultural trends that are common in a population.

The word comes from Old French prevalent, from Medieval Latin praevalent- praevalens, derived from praevalere "to be strong beforehand," from prae- "before" + valere "to be strong."

In use, prevalent is typically followed by a noun indicating what is widespread, and can describe how common something is. It contrasts with rare or unusual, and with prevalence when referring to a statistical measure of how many people have a condition at a given time. For example, influenza is prevalent in winter in temperate regions, and smartphone ownership is prevalent among adults in many countries.

See also prevalence, epidemiology, endemic, ubiquitous, prevailing.