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Preventive vs Restorative - What's the difference?

preventive | restorative | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between preventive and restorative

is that preventive is preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to while restorative is serving to restore.

As nouns the difference between preventive and restorative

is that preventive is a thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to while restorative is something with restoring properties.

preventive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Preventing, hindering, or acting as an obstacle to.
  • Carried out to deter military aggression.
  • Slowing the development of an illness; prophylactic.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • Physic is either curative or preventive .
  • (obsolete) Going before; preceding.
  • * Cudworth
    • Any previous counsel or preventive understanding.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A thing that prevents, hinders, or acts as an obstacle to.
  • * 1856 , Henry William Herbert, The Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen
    • Dogs should be warmly but airily housed; heartily, but not heatingly, fed — old Indian meal, mixed with oatmeal, suppawn, is the best general food, with a small quantity of salt, which is a preventive against worms
  • (nonstandard) A thing that slows the development of an illness.
  • A contraceptive, especially a condom.

    • Alternative forms

    * preventative

    Usage notes

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

    restorative

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something with restoring properties.
  • (euphemistic) An alcoholic drink, especially with tonic.
  • *

    • References

    * OED2

    Adjective

    (head)
  • Serving to restore.
    • After a long day working in the fields Clarence took comfort in a restorative pint of beer.
  • * Milton
    • Destroys life's enemy, / Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.

    Anagrams

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