prophylaktisch!
and LEO works.

Just a typo (or two): it spells 'proPHYlaktisch' and is in LEO ("prophylactic")

Greek rules, hehehe!

You or your Austrian acquaintance have fallen victim to a spelling error. The word, spelled correctly, should be: "prophylaktisch", meaning, of course, "prophylactic", which means in turn "as a preventive measure". Even though the recent spelling reform in German would seem to legalise a spelling like this - I do not habe a Duden on hand right now to check - most people I know would regard this spelling of a word of greek origin as a lingual atrocity.

In English, the basic meaning of prophylactic is "preventive/preventative", and it's used that way in writing, particularly serious writing or technical writing. However, in less formal settings, people would probably tend to avoid it because there was a period (1950-70's?) when "prophylactic" was used to mean condom, so even if its meaning is perfectly clear (as preventative), it could still bring to mind the thought of a condom.

Like the word "gay". Because of its current meaning as homosexual, it is nowadays rarerly used in its original meaning of bright, colorful, cheerful.

Thanks, folks, for the spelling correction. [It just shows you that googling and relying on what people write on the Internet isn't always 100% fool-proof.]

Also, thanks for the information. There was something in the back of my mind that there was a "medical" term lurking in the word somewhere which sparked my interest in this morning's use of the word in the first place.