prevalent

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praevalēns (“very strong or powerful”),^[2][3][4] the present participle of praevaleō (“to be stronger, be more able”),^[2][5][6][7] the verb behind prevail,^[3][4][8] a compound of prae- (“before”) and valeō (“to be strong, have power”),^[5] which Etymonline takes from Proto-Indo-European *wal- (“to be strong”).^[5] The OED compares prévalent (1710), prevalente and prevalente (14th century).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having great power or force; effective, influential: ?a1475, in a translation of Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon made perhaps about 1425; this sense is now obsolete.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[5] while the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Collins date it to the late 16th century and Dictionary.com to 1570–80.^{[9][8][10][11]}

Semantic evolution

Of a medicine or treatment it meant efficacious from 1615 to 1800.^[2][9] From 1614, in Ralegh's History of the World, it meant having the upper hand, victorious, a sense now rare.^[2] Johnson (1755) still defined it as victorious, gaining superiority, quoting Ralegh and Milton's "Michael and his angels prevalent".^[12] The modern sense, widespread or generally occurring, is first recorded in Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia (1658).^[2][4][5] A noun prevalent, something widespread or a predominant feature, is recorded from 1867, and in ecology for a prevalent species.^[2][6]

Timeline

• ?a1475 – powerful, effective (obsolete).^[2]
• 1614 – predominant, victorious (now rare).^[2]
• 1615 – of a medicine, efficacious (obsolete by 1800).^[2]
• 1658 – widespread, generally occurring.^[2][4][5]
• 1867 – noun, something widespread.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Widespread or common in a particular place or at a particular time: Malaria remains prevalent in the region.
2. Generally accepted, practised or favoured; current.
3. (rare) Dominant or superior in power.

Noun

1. Something widespread or predominant. In ecology, a species that is common in a community.

Word family

• prevalently
• prevalence
• nonprevalent
• unprevalent

Related words

• prevail
• valiant
• value
• valid

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.