prevalence

7 synonyms and 2 antonyms for prevalence, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — How common or widespread something is in a particular place or group.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

frequency

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

incidence

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

commonness pervasiveness ubiquity preponderance prevalence rate

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

How common or widespread something is in a particular place or group.

“The survey found a high prevalence of second jobs among nurses.”

frequency commonness incidence pervasiveness ubiquity preponderance

Opposites

rarity scarcity

2. noun

In epidemiology, the proportion of a population that has a given condition at a particular point or over a stated period, counting existing cases as well as new ones.

“Diabetes prevalence in the region has risen to nine per cent.”

prevalence rate

How to use prevalence

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

high prevalence prevalence rate point prevalence lifetime prevalence prevalence of obesity

Slightly formal in general use; a precisely defined technical term in medicine and public health.

Etymology

From Latin praevalere meaning 'to have greater power or be stronger', from prae 'before' and valere 'to be strong'.

Full origin of prevalence →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between prevalence and incidence?

Prevalence counts all existing cases in a population at a given time, new and old together. Incidence counts only new cases arising over a defined period. A long-lasting illness can have low incidence but high prevalence, because cases accumulate rather than resolve.

What is point prevalence versus period prevalence?

Point prevalence measures how many people have the condition at one specific moment, like the day of a survey. Period prevalence counts anyone who had it at any time within a window, such as a year, so it is always the larger figure.

How is prevalence calculated?

Divide the number of people with the condition by the total number of people in the population being studied, then express it as a percentage or a rate such as cases per 100,000. Both numbers must come from the same population and the same time frame for the figure to mean anything.

People also searched

frequency incidence scarcity rarity ubiquity pervasiveness commonness preponderance

Nearby words

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