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prescription

[ pri-skrip-shuhn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Medicine/Medical.
1. a direction, usually written, by the physician to the pharmacist for the preparation and use of a medicine or remedy.
2. the medicine prescribed:
  Take this prescription three times a day.
an act of prescribing.
that which is prescribed.
Law.
1. Also called positive prescription. a long or immemorial use of some right with respect to a thing so as to give a right to continue such use.
2. Also called positive prescription. the process of acquiring rights by uninterrupted assertion of the right over a long period of time.
3. Also called negative prescription. the loss of rights to legal remedy due to the limitation of time within which an action can be taken.

adjective

(of drugs) sold only upon medical prescription; ethical. Compare over-the-counter ( def 2 ).

prescription

/ ��ɪˈ��ɪ��ʃə�� /

noun

1. written instructions from a physician, dentist, etc, to a pharmacist stating the form, dosage strength, etc, of a drug to be issued to a specific patient
2. the drug or remedy prescribed
modifier (of drugs) available legally only with a doctor's prescription
1. written instructions from an optician specifying the lenses needed to correct defects of vision
2. ( as modifier )
  prescription glasses
the act of prescribing
something that is prescribed
a long established custom or a claim based on one
law
1. the uninterrupted possession of property over a stated period of time, after which a right or title is acquired ( positive prescription )
2. the barring of adverse claims to property, etc, after a specified period of time has elapsed, allowing the possessor to acquire title ( negative prescription )
3. the right or title acquired in either of these ways

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Word History and Origins

Origin of prescription¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin ��ī��پ�ō��- (stem of ��ī��پ�ō ) legal possession (of property), law, order, literally, a writing before, hence, a heading on a document. See prescript, -ion

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Word History and Origins

Origin of prescription¹

C14: from legal Latin ��پ�ō an order, prescription; see prescribe

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Asked if his party would commit to keeping free prescriptions in Wales, Farage replied: "If we can, yes of course."

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I'd like to get your reaction to both his comments about your plan to support primary challengers, as well as his broader political prescription to just let Trump defeat himself.

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Justice Department after allegations that the pharmacy chain illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances.

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I recently attended Downing Street to present a petition to the government to end the postcode lottery for gluten-free prescriptions in my role as an ambassador for the charity Coeliac UK.

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Some prescriptions can cost thousands of dollars per month, leading some patients to fundraise online — or worse, go without.

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Related Words

prescriptible prescriptive

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