prevent
/prɪˈvent/·프리벤트·verb
to stop something from happening
LatinCEFR B1
Root
pre- (before) + Latin 'venire' (to come)
Latin praevenire (come before, anticipate) → Middle French prévenir → English prevent
In a word
pre- (before) + vent (come) = 'come before, and block the way'. The vent family splits by direction of coming — pre- (before) → prevent, in- (in) → invent, e- (out) → event, ad- (toward) → advent. A vaccine is the textbook prevent — arrives first, takes the seat.
Examples
Vaccines prevent many diseases.
The rain prevented us from going out.
Try to prevent mistakes by checking twice.
Related
inventconveneinterventionadventevent