forefend vs preclude

forefend and preclude both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
forefend	No	No	Yes	No
preclude	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, preclude is a hypernym of forefend; that is, preclude is a word with a broader meaning than forefend:

forefend: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off
preclude: keep from happening or arising; make impossible

Other hypernyms of forefend include forbid, foreclose, forestall, prevent.

forefend (verb)	preclude (verb)
prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; to protect from or to keep away anything undesirable; to ward off	keep from happening or arising; make impossible
	make impossible, especially beforehand