prevalence
AmericanUsage
What does prevalence mean? Prevalence is the state or condition of being widespread or in general use or acceptance.Prevalence is the noun form of the adjective prevalent, meaning widespread, common, or extensive.In the context of medicine, prevalence refers to how widespread a disease is—specifically, the total number of cases in a population at a given time.Example: The prevalence of social media use among teens is often linked to the rise in mental health issues like anxiety.
Other Word Forms
- nonprevalence noun
Etymology
Origin of prevalence
First recorded in 1600–10; from French prévalence, from Latin praevalēntia, from praevalent-, stem of praevalēns (present participle of praevalēre “to be more able”) + -ia -y 3 ( def. ); prevail ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's possible this could explain the higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases in women," Cao speculates.
From Science Daily
But California Adventure’s prevalence of dressed-up county fair-like rides failed to command crowds.
From Los Angeles Times
These included educational attainment, median household income, racial composition, average temperature and relative humidity, smoking prevalence, BMI, and distance to the nearest hospital.
From Science Daily
The federal commission - the country's most powerful form of public inquiry - will investigate the prevalence and key drivers of antisemitism and make recommendations to government.
From BBC
In this year's report, consumer rights have moved from first to third position in terms of prevalence, which the charity said "would appear to indicate" the introduction of consumer legislation was having "a positive impact".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
