prevalence
PREV-uh-luhns/ˈpɹɛvələns/
Pluralprevalences (some meanings)
- 1How common or widespread something is across a place or group.
Like a weed that has spread across a whole garden.
The prevalence of cell phones means almost anyone can be reached in seconds.
Doctors worry about the prevalence of junk food among young children.
Similarpervasiveness, ubiquity, commonness, spread, frequency
- 2The share of people in a group who have a certain disease at one time.
Like counting how many apples in a basket have spots, out of all the apples.
The prevalence of asthma is higher in cities with dirty air.
Health workers measured the prevalence of the flu across the small town.
Note
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Origin
It came from a Middle French word, prévalence.