preclude

views updated

pre·clude / priˈkloōd/ • v. [tr.] prevent from happening; make impossible: the secret nature of his work precluded official recognition. ∎  (preclude someone from) (of a situation or condition) prevent someone from doing something: his difficulties preclude him from leading a normal life.DERIVATIVES: pre·clu·sion / -ˈkloōzhən/ n.pre·clu·sive / -ˈkloōsiv; -ziv/ adj.ORIGIN: late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘bar (a route or passage)’): from Latin praecludere, from prae ‘before’ + claudere ‘to shut.’

More From encyclopedia.com