'fever-preventing' originates from Modern English, a compound of English 'fever' (ultimately from Old English 'fēfor' and Latin 'febris') and the present-participle 'preventing' (from the verb 'prevent', from Latin 'praevenire' where 'prae-' meant 'before' and 'venire' meant 'to come').

'fever' comes via Old English 'fēfor' (with ultimate ties to Latin 'febris'); 'prevent' comes from Latin 'praevenire' into Old French 'prevenir' and Middle English forms before becoming Modern English 'prevent'. The compound form 'fever-preventing' is a modern English formation combining these elements.

Initially the components meant 'fever' and (for 'prevent') 'to come before' or 'anticipate'; over time 'prevent' shifted to the sense 'stop from happening', and the compound now means 'serving to stop or reduce fever'.