prevene

verb

"prevene" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“prevene” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To come before; to anticipate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-prevene · prevene · English

prevene · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for prevene
PropertyValue
Headwordprevene
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “prevene” in English

preveneranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

prevene is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for prevene, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French prévenir, Latin praevenire. See prevent. The correct English form is prevene, spelled P-R-E-V-E-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To come before; to anticipate.
  2. 2
    To hinder or prevent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how prevene appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If Thy indulgent Care / Had not preven'd, among unbody'd Shades / I now had wander'd

Etymology

From French prévenir, Latin praevenire. See prevent.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "prevene"?
"prevene" is spelled P-R-E-V-E-N-E.
What does "prevene" mean?
As a verb, "prevene" means: To come before; to anticipate.
What is the origin of the word "prevene"?
From French prévenir, Latin praevenire. See prevent. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list