prevent

/pri-ˈvent/

Middle English, to anticipate, from Latin praeventus, past participle of praevenire to come before, anticipate, forestall, from prae- + venire to come

verb

  1. to keep from happening or existing

  2. to hold or keep back : hinder, stop —often used with from

  3. to deprive of power or hope of acting or succeeding

steps to prevent war

prevent anticipate forestall mean to deal with beforehand. prevent implies taking advance measures against something possible or probable. anticipate may imply merely getting ahead of another by being a precursor or forerunner or it may imply checking another's intention by acting first.