prohibitive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prohibitif,^[2][3] borrowed from Medieval Latin prohibitīvus (“that prevents or hinders”),^[4][2][3][5] a word recorded in British sources from the 13th century, also in the sense "preventing disease" in the 14th.^[4] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English allow a French source as well,^[6][7] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Klein derive it from French prohibitif,^[8][9] which the OED records only from 1506.^[4] The Latin adjective is formed on prohibitus, the past participle of prohibeō (“to hold back, restrain, hinder, prevent”),^[3][8][4] with the suffix -īvus;^[4][8] the verb is from prō (“away, forth”) and habeō (“to hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghabh- (“to give or receive”).^[3] The Shorter Oxford adds that later uses were formed afresh from prohibit and -ive.^[6] Related words in the other Romance languages include Italian proibitivo and Spanish prohibitivo.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Preventing or guarding against something, in medicine: probably before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, where a bandage is said to be prohibitif or defensyf of the descent of matter into a fracture.^[2][4] Etymonline also dates the word to the early 15th century,^[3] while Dictionary.com gives 1595–1605.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, having the effect of forbidding, preventing or excluding something, grew out of the medical one and is the OED's first sense.^[4] In grammar the word was applied from 1759 to forms that express a prohibition, such as a negative imperative.^[4] The sense now most common, of taxes or prices so high that they prevent buying or use, is recorded from 1811 in the Times,^[4] though Etymonline dates it only to 1886.^[3] American dictionaries also record its use of a competitor so likely to win that others are discouraged.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – preventive against a disease or condition.^[2][4]
• 1759 – in grammar, expressing a prohibition.^[4]
• 1811 – of taxes or prices, so high as to prevent purchase or use.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Forbidding or tending to prohibit something; restrictive: prohibitive laws on public gatherings.^[12][8][10]
2. Of a price, cost or tax, so high as to discourage buying or use: The fees at the clinic were prohibitive for most families.^{[12][8][10][4]}
3. So likely to win as to discourage competition: the prohibitive favorite in the race.^[10][11]
4. (grammar) Expressing a prohibition; negative in an imperative use.^[4]

Word family

• prohibitively
• prohibitiveness
• nonprohibitive
• unprohibitive

Related words

• prohibit
• prohibition
• prohibitory
• inhibit
• exhibit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins