prescribe
English
Alternative forms
- præscribe (archaic)
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin praescribere, from prae (“before”) and scribere (“to write”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɹɪˈskɹaɪb/
- (distinguished from proscribe) IPA(key): /ˈpɹiːˌskɹaɪb/
- Rhymes: -aɪb
- Homophone: proscribe (in some dialects)
Verb
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- (medicine) To order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).
- The doctor prescribed aspirin.
- To specify as a required procedure or ritual; to lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action.
- The property meets the criteria prescribed by the regulations.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Prescribe not us our duties.
- (Can we date this quote by John Dryden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Let streams prescribe their fountains where to run.
Related terms
Derived terms
Antonyms
Translations
to order a drug or medical device
to specify as a required procedure or ritual
Spanish
Verb
prescribe
- Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of prescribir.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of prescribir.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of prescribir.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪb
- English terms with homophones
- en:Medicine
- English terms with quotations
- Requests for date/John Dryden
- English transitive verbs
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms
- Spanish forms of verbs ending in -ir