Prevalence - Definition

n 1: the quality of prevailing generally; being widespread; "he
was surprised by the prevalence of optimism about the
future"
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; "a preponderance of
evidence against the defendant" [syn: preponderance,
prevalence]