PRESCRIBE

order, prescribe, dictate

(verb) issue commands or orders for

prescribe

(verb) (medicine) order the use of (a treatment, medicine, etc.), usually by written prescription; “the doctor prescribed steroids for my ear trouble”

prescribe

(verb) recommend as beneficial; “my mother prescribes a good night’s sleep as the cure for all ills”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

prescribe (third-person singular simple present prescribes, present participle prescribing, simple past and past participle prescribed)

(medicine) To order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).

To specify by writing as a required procedure or ritual; to lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action.

Antonyms

• proscribe

Source: Wiktionary


Pre*scribe", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prescribed; p. pr & vb. n. Prescribing.] Etym: [L. praescribere, praescriptum; prae before + scriebe to write. See Scribe.]

1. To lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action; to impose as a peremptory order; to dictate; to appoint; to direct. Prescribe not us our duties. Shak. Let streams prescribe their fountains where to run. Dryden.

2. (Med.)

Definition: To direct, as a remedy to be used by a patient; as, the doctor prescribed quinine.

Syn.

– To appoint; order; command; dictate; ordain; institute; establish.

Pre*scribe", v. i.

1. To give directions; to dictate. A forwardness to prescribe to their opinions. Locke.

2. To influence by long use [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

3. (Med.)

Definition: To write or to give medical directions; to indicate remedies; as, to prescribe for a patient in a fever.

4. (Law)

Definition: To claim by prescription; to claim a title to a thing on the ground of immemorial use and enjoyment, that is, by a custom having the force of law.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

2 May 2025

MINESHAFT

(noun) excavation consisting of a vertical or sloping passageway for finding or mining ore or for ventilating a mine


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

coffee icon