"preventative"

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>>Boston Sunday Globe, July 19, 2004, p.E11
>>"... preventative services ..."
>>Well,  an ounce of preventation is worth a pound of cure.
>
>ca. 988,000 google web hits.  (compared to ca. 3,140,000 for
>"preventive".)  it might not be your idea  of standard, but it's damn
>common.  AHD4 lists "preventative" as an alternative to "preventive",
>in fact.  MWDEU tells us that "The critics have panned _preventative_
>for over a century, preferring its shorter synonym _preventive_ in
>spite of the fact that both words have been around for over 300 years
>and both have been in regular use by reputable writers."  there is
>more, including the analogy to "authoritative" and "talkative".
>
>also: ca. 3,610 hits for "preventation" (which i don't much like, but
>there it is).

Similarly (I guess): "dilatation" vs. "dilation".

-- Doug Wilson