preventative

Adjective

 * 1) * 1920, Lillien Jane Martin, Mental hygiene: two years' experience of a clinical psychologist, Warwick &amp;York (1920), p. 78,
 * "That part of mental hygiene which has a prophylactic character falls into two classes, group preventative mental hygiene [&hellip;]"
 * 1) * 1968, G. Anthony Wedge, N. A. P.: New American Party, Geddes Press Printers (1968), p. 155,
 * "Preventative defense comes in two flavors [&hellip;]"
 * 1) * 2006, Robert Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson, Repairing &amp; Upgrading Your PC, O'Reilly (2006), p. 70,
 * "The goals of preventative maintenance are to reduce the likelihood of hardware failures, [&hellip;]"
 * "The goals of preventative maintenance are to reduce the likelihood of hardware failures, [&hellip;]"

Usage notes

 * Preventative is in all senses interchangeable with preventive. Even so, many speakers prefer to use preventative in noun senses and preventive in adjective senses.