prophylactic C2+ Topic:Health & Medicine US /ˌproʊfəˈlæktɪk/ UK /ˌprɒfɪˈlæktɪk/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj intended to prevent disease; a preventive measure or device Doctors prescribed a prophylactic course of antibiotics before surgery. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · intended to prevent... preventiveprotectiveprecautionarypreventativecondomcontraceptive ↔ Opposites curativetherapeutic Word family Derived forms prophylactically Related forms prophylaxis Etymology AI details From Ancient Greek prophylaktikos ('precautionary'), from prophylassein ('to guard against beforehand'), from pro- ('before') + phylassein ('to guard'). prophylaktikos Ancient Greek phylassein Ancient Greek View etymology graph -> Topics Health & Medicine Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # prophylactic **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˌproʊfəˈlæktɪk/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌprɒfɪˈlæktɪk/ ## Meanings 1. intended to prevent disease; a preventive measure or device ## Examples - Doctors prescribed a prophylactic course of antibiotics before surgery. ## Synonyms - preventive - protective - precautionary - preventative - condom - contraceptive ## Antonyms - curative - therapeutic ## Derived Forms - prophylactically ## Related Forms - prophylaxis ## Roots and Affixes - Root: prophylaktikos - Root: phylassein ## Etymology From Ancient Greek prophylaktikos ('precautionary'), from prophylassein ('to guard against beforehand'), from pro- ('before') + phylassein ('to guard'). ## AI Etymology Prophylactic is from Ancient Greek prophylaktikos ('precautionary'), from prophylassein ('to guard against beforehand'), from pro- ('before') + phylassein ('to guard'). Important recorded forms include prophylaktikos (Ancient Greek) and phylassein (Ancient Greek). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers intended to prevent disease; a preventive measure or device. The wider family includes derived forms such as prophylactically and related words such as prophylaxis. ## Topics - Health & Medicine - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown