prevenir

Prevenir is a verb used in Spanish and Portuguese that means to prevent, avert, or anticipate harm or undesired outcomes. It describes actions intended to avoid risk, illness, damage, or loss. The noun form of the concept is prevención in Spanish and prevenção in Portuguese, both corresponding to the English term prevention. A related verb, prever, means to foresee or anticipate, and is distinct in meaning from prevenir.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin praevenire, formed from prae- “before” and venire “to come.” The sense of coming before an event underlies its modern use in Romance languages to describe actions taken in advance to avoid problems.

Usage and context: In Spanish, prevenir is typically transitive and used with a direct object, such as prevenir un daño, prevenir enfermedades or prevenir un accidente. In present tense, the verb is irregular: yo prevengo, tú previenes, él previene, nosotros prevenimos, vosotros prevenís, ellos previenen. It can be followed by de or que to indicate prevention of a specific outcome, for example, prevenirse de un peligro or prevenir que ocurra un desastre. The reflexive form prevenirse is used to express taking precautions against a risk.

In public health, safety, and risk management, prevenir guides policies and actions such as vaccination, education, safety protocols, and screening programs. A related concept is la prevención, the general idea of proactive protection against harm. The Portuguese equivalent is prevenção, sharing the same etymological roots and use.