# prevalence

Pronunciation: say "PREV-uh-luhns" /ˈpɹɛvələns/

## Noun

1. The state of being widespread or common; the extent to which something is found throughout an area or group.
   - Simple: How common or widespread something is across a place or group.
   - _The prevalence of remote work has reshaped how cities use their office space._
   - _Researchers noted the growing prevalence of plastic waste along the coastline._
2. The proportion of a population that has a particular disease at a given time, found by dividing the number of cases by the total number of individuals.
   - Simple: The share of people in a group who have a certain disease at one time.
   - _The study reported a high prevalence of diabetes among older adults in the region._
   - _Vaccination programs aim to reduce the prevalence of measles worldwide._

## Origin

Borrowed from the Middle French word prévalence.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/prevalence (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).