prescription

[ pri-skrip-shuhn ]

noun

1. 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.

2. an act of prescribing.
3. that which is prescribed.
4. 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

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

prescription

/ prɪˈskrɪpʃən /

noun

1. 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
2. modifier (of drugs) available legally only with a doctor's prescription
3. 1. written instructions from an optician specifying the lenses needed to correct defects of vision
   2. ( as modifier )

      prescription glasses

4. the act of prescribing
5. something that is prescribed
6. a long established custom or a claim based on one
7. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescription¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescription¹

C14: from legal Latin praescriptiō an order, prescription; see prescribe

Example Sentences

Two other home tests approved by the FDA — Lucira Health’s “All-In-One” test kit and Abbott’s BinaxNOW test — require a doctor’s prescription, making them unhelpful for stopping asymptomatic transmission.

From Washington Post

His prescriptions have nothing to do with GameStop’s ailments.

From Washington Post

You can be denied if you have abused prescription drugs or alcohol.

From Washington Post

Cannabis for sickness and painThis plant isn’t legal in most of the US, but in some states you can grow cannabis and get flowers or therapeutic products derived from it with a medical prescription.

From Popular-Science

Alternately you can also get prescription ski goggles, typically these work by inserting a prescription lens.

From Popular-Science

Term limits could be a prescription to speed change along.

From The Daily Beast

I take calcium and vitamin D supplements, but prescription medications are generally only for women in menopause.

From The Daily Beast

With prescription drug abuse rampant in the U.S., New York is taking steps to stop it.

From The Daily Beast

His first prescription when I saw him was to have the CAT scan test that I had been forced to postpone for a month and a half.

From The Daily Beast

No one should be given a lethal prescription of drugs when they are gripped by mental illness or in a temporary depression.

From The Daily Beast

No, I'm only going to save the reputation of AEsculapius by giving him a prescription got from a quack to give to a goose.

From Project Gutenberg

The doctor who prescribes gratuitously gives a worthless prescription.

From Project Gutenberg

It arises from prescription (Greek: θεματισμὡ), from usage, or from nature.

From Project Gutenberg

Very few cases had a second chill after taking the prescription.

From Project Gutenberg

But we would earnestly advise her to try kissing a multitude of live men before taking so peculiar a prescription.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• drug
• instruction
• recipe
• remedy