PREVALENCE

Pronunciation (US):

• PREVALENCE (noun)
  The noun PREVALENCE has 3 senses:

1. the quality of prevailing generally; being widespread
2. (epidemiology) the ratio (for a given time period) of the number of occurrences of a disease or event to the number of units at risk in the population
3. a superiority in numbers or amount

  Familiarity information: PREVALENCE used as a noun is uncommon.

• PREVALENCE (noun)

Meaning:

The quality of prevailing generally; being widespread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he was surprised by the prevalence of optimism about the future

Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):

generality (the quality of being general or widespread or having general applicability)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prevalence"):

currency (general acceptance or use)

Meaning:

(epidemiology) the ratio (for a given time period) of the number of occurrences of a disease or event to the number of units at risk in the population

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):

ratio (the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient))

Domain category:

epidemiology (the branch of medical science dealing with the transmission and control of disease)

Meaning:

A superiority in numbers or amount

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

preponderance; prevalence

Context example:

a preponderance of evidence against the defendant

Hypernyms ("prevalence" is a kind of...):

figure; number (the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals)