'preventive' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'praevenire', where 'prae-' meant 'before' and 'venire' meant 'to come'.

'preventive' changed from Old French 'prevenir' (from Latin 'praevenire') and Middle English forms such as 'prevenen'/'preventen', and eventually became the modern English word 'preventive'.

Initially, the root meant 'to come before' or 'to anticipate'; over time it evolved into the sense 'to stop something from happening' and the adjective/noun meaning 'intended to prevent' or 'a measure that prevents'.