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Precaution vs Preventative - What's the difference?

precaution | preventative |

As nouns the difference between precaution and preventative

is that precaution is precaution while preventative is .

As an adjective preventative is

.

precaution

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Previous caution or care; caution previously employed to prevent mischief or secure good; as, his life was saved by precaution.
  • * John Henry Newman
    • The ancient philosophers treasured up their supposed discoveries with miserable precaution .
  • A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act.
    • to take precautions against risks of accident

    Derived terms

    * precautionary

    See also

    * prevention

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (transitive): To warn or caution beforehand. --.
  • (rare): To take precaution against. --.

    • preventative

    English

    Adjective

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

    • Noun

    (en noun)

    • Usage notes

    *Preventative'' is in all senses synonymous with ''preventive''. Many speakers prefer to use ''preventative'' in noun senses and ''preventive in adjective senses.[http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/nonerrors.html
  • preventive]