prophylaxis

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˌprɒfɪˈlæksɪs/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(prō′fə lak′sis, prof′ə-)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
pro•phy•lax•is  (prō′fə lak′sis, prof′ə-),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Medicine
    • Medicinethe preventing of disease.
    • Medicinethe prevention of a specific disease, as by studying the biological behavior, transmission, etc., of its causative agent and applying a series of measures against it.
  2. Dentistryprophylactic treatment, as the cleaning of the teeth by a dentist or dental hygienist.
  • Greek pro- pro-2 + phýlaxis a watching, guarding, equivalent. to phylak- (base of phylássein to guard) + -sis -sis
  • Neo-Latin
  • 1835–45

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
prophylaxis / ˌprɒfɪˈlæksɪs/
  1. the prevention of disease or control of its possible spread
'prophylaxis' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
PEP - PrEP - chemoprophylaxis - isosorbide dinitrate - lithium - methysergide - preventive medicine - prophylactic - psychoprophylaxis - silver nitrate - tachyphylaxis

Forum discussions with the word(s) "prophylaxis" in the title:


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