Prescribe Meaning
/pɹɪˈskɹaɪb/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).
verbTo specify by writing as a required procedure or ritual; to lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action.
Sentence Examples
Prescribe the boy some medication!
You should go to specialist, for now I will prescribe you medicine.
In our country psychotherapists can rightly prescribe drugs while psychologists can't.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After examining the patient, the doctor will ____ antibiotics for the infection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor decided to ____ a course of antibiotics to treat the bacterial infection.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-? Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti Proto-Italic *skreiβō Latin scrībō Latin praescrībōbor. English prescribe Borrowed from Latin praescrībere, from prae- (“before, in front”) and scrībere (“to write”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And most neurologists are in the habit of prescribing antispasticity drugs like tizanidine and baclofen, which are oral and inexpensive, but which cause drowsiness and weaken every muscle in the body, not just the target ones."
— 2009 March 17, Donald G. Mcneil Jr., “After a Stroke, Freeing Muscles With Botox”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2017:
"Prescribe not us our duties."
— 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]:
"VVhen Parents loves are order'd by a Son, / Let ſtreams preſcribe their fountains vvhere to run."
— 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 5:
"Most probable that one presentation and 40 years possession thereafter, is sufficient to prescribe a right of patronage."
— 1753, Andrew McDouall, An Institute of the Laws of Scotland in Civil Rights […] , volume 3, Table of Contents, page 86:
"[…] held, in a question with a party who had acquired right from the commissioners of the forfeited estates to the estate of the forfeited superior, as it stood in his person, that the crown charter of the vassal was a valid title on which to prescribe a right to the coal […]"
— 1834, Patrick Shaw, Digest of Cases Decided in the Courts of Session, Teinds, and Justiciary in the House of Lords, 1821–1833 […] , page 135:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After examining the patient, the doctor will ____ antibiotics for the infection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor decided to ____ a course of antibiotics to treat the bacterial infection.