2020-12-06
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด P – preventative & preventive
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง preventative = ‘pri-VEN-tuh-tiv’
ออกเสียง preventive = ‘pri-VEN-tiv’
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
'Preventive' or 'Preventative'?
Why not both, just to be safe?
What to Know
There is no difference between preventive and preventative.
They are both adjectives that mean "used to stop something bad from happening."
Both words are commonly used in contexts concerning health care,
as in "preventive/preventative medicine."
Preventive, however, is used much more frequently than preventative.
Even though the English language is rich with variation,
many of us find ourselves uncomfortable
when we encounter two forms of a word which are just a touch different
yet mean the same thing.
If this happens with a pair of fairly obscure words
(such as dialectical and dialectal) it often will not draw much notice.
(Except on Twitter.)
But when the words veer closer to common use and attract attention
we often find that one of them will be condemned.
As is the case with preventive and preventative.
The words co-existed for 200 years before complaints on 'preventative'
began in the late 18th century.
The shorter word, preventive, has meanings
such as "something that prevents," when used as a noun,
and "devoted to or concerned with prevention,"
when used as an adjective. Preventative means the same thing.
The question of which one you should choose
depends much on your appetite for nit-pickery.
History of Preventative and Preventive
Of the two, preventive is slightly older,
appearing in English at the beginning of the 17th century.
So Philip of Macedon, and Atis the sonne of Croesus, found a chariot in a swords hilt, and an Iron poynted weapon at the hunting of a Bore, to delude their preuentiue wearinesse. — Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, 1602
The warre which wee call preuentiue ought to bee esteemed the more fitte, for that the multitude of souldiers which the Turke carrieth alwayes with him to maintaine his owne designes, and to frustrate our purposes, is infinite. — Louis Turquet de Mayerne (trans. by Edward Grimeston), The Generall Historie of Spaine, 1612
However, preventative is no Johnny-come-lately,
showing definite use for over 350 years now.
Here follows the preventative: take a poor man, and settle him in a comfortable situation, making him pay (or secure) a reasonable valuation.... — Christopher Love, The Strange and Wonderful Predictions of Mr. Christopher Love, 1651
It openeth all obstructions, and suppresseth all manner of over-flowings in Women, strengtheneth the womb, cureth the mother, maketh the barren fruitfull, and is a great preventative against miscarryings, and rectifies most infirmities of the womb. — John French, The York-shire Spaw, 1654
To commit the sin, and not to prevent the sin, when men have the preventative power of it, are very near ally'd, if not the same Crimes. — Roger Boyle Orrery, The Answer of a Person of Quality to a Scandalous Letter Lately Printed and Subscribed by P.W., 1662
Preventive has always been more common than preventative
(although the difference between the two words is more pronounced in some forms of English, such as the American varietal, than others).
But for almost two hundred years the two words existed in peace, and no one seemed to mind much which one you used.
It is not uncommon to find both them used interchangeably by a single author within the same work.
...and sent for a neighbouring Apothecary to give him something preventive, for he had not yet found himself ill.
...to send a preventative Medicine to the Father of the Child, to whom he had told their Condition. — Daniel Defoe, The History of the Great Plague in London, 1754
But the English language is not only rich with variation;
it is rich as well with strife, and people who like to tell you that the thing you're doing is a bad thing to do.
And so, after over a century of peaceful coexistence, someone decided that one of these words was a bit off.
We don't know who the first person to complain about preventative was,
but individuals began weighing in on this at the end of the 18th century.
By the middle of the 19th century the idea that the extra syllable in preventative
was unseemly had made it into dictionaries and usage guides.
John Russell Bartlett, in his 1848 A Dictionary of Americanisms, sniffed that preventative was "A corruption sometimes met with for preventive both in England and America."
He was followed by Matthew Harrison, who in his 1861 The Rise, Progress, and Present Structure of the English Language stated that preventative was nothing more than preventive "written and spoken improperly."
This was followed by another hundred or years of language guides claiming that one of these words was proper and one was not.
In recent decades there has been some softening in the opposition to preventative.
Some guides will allow that it is not a mistake, but advise using preventive for greater clarity. We advise you to use the word which speaks to your heart. Or emulate Daniel Defoe, and use both.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Preventative
Definition: preventive
Here is a small sample of the comments
we have received from readers
who are upset with preventative beingused instead of preventive:
Have noticed it in some newspaper articles.
Latest is sign at lubrication station saying preventative maintenance.
Have complained, but no change.
Radio commercials using preventative which is wrong in me opinion
Fact: 'Preventate' is not a word.
Fact: 'Preventative' is, therefore, also not a word.
Opinion: You may be from Oklahoma if you deliberately use 'preventative'
when you mean 'preventive.
Who ever came up with this word deserves a slow painful death.
Such complaints are nothing new; Ambrose Bierce, in his 1909 book Write it Right, offered the following brusque entry: “No such word as preventative.” Writing in 1870, Richard Grant White was somewhat more florid, and said that the use of this word was evidence “of an utter want of education and of a low grade of intelligence.”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
preventative & preventive
These words mean
“serving to hinder,”
“keeping from occurring.”
“The form preventive is preferable
and is so much more widely used
that two standard dictionaries no longer record preventative:
“The person arrested was placed in preventive detention.”
“What is your opinion of preventive medicine?”
