Prevalent

How to spell prevalent

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce prevalent

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does prevalent mean?

1. adjectiveWidespread or common in a particular place or at a particular time.

Prevalent in a sentence

• Smartphone use is now prevalent among workers of every age.

• Damp conditions made mould especially prevalent in the old building.

Where does prevalent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin praevalere, which meant 'to have greater power' or 'to prevail'. It was formed from prae, meaning 'before' or 'in front', and valere, meaning 'to be strong' or 'to be well'. The same valere root gives us 'value', 'valid', and 'convalesce', all carrying a sense of strength or worth. In the early 1600s English adopted the adjective prevalent to describe something that was strong or powerful, and the meaning soon settled into the modern sense of being widespread or common. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle, since the second and third vowels both reduce to a faint schwa, tempting writers toward 'prevelant' or 'prevailant'; remembering the val of 'value' keeps the central 'a' in place.

How the word is built

• prae- (before)
• val (from valere: to be strong)
• -ent (adjective suffix)