Prescription Meaning
/pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA written order from an authorized medical practitioner for provision of a medicine or other treatment, such as (ophthalmology) the specific lenses needed for a pair of glasses.
nounThe medicine or treatment provided by such an order.
Sentence Examples
Sorry, we can't fill this prescription here.
Go to the doctor to get your prescription!
The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The patient took the doctor's ____ to the pharmacy to get the medicine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She took the ____ to the pharmacy and waited while the medication was prepared.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French prescripcion, from Latin praescriptio (“preface; pretext; something written ahead of time”), from prae- (“pre-, before”) + scribere (“to write”) + -tio (“-tion, forming nouns”). Equivalent to prescribe + -tion.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran as follows, The toe of the foot of a man, anointed with oil, or honey, or the ashes of a weasel."
— 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 234:
""Oh, yes; she is the only sort of person for a nurse. She always," cried Lady Anne, with a sneer, "comes to you with a receipt for a pudding in one hand to make you ill, and then a prescription in the other to cure you.""
— 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 9:
"Change is the universal prescription for a wounded spirit. "It will do you so much good," is the constant remark."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Return to Courtenaye Hall”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 145:
"...looking at him I saw that I had been wrong in my prescription, if not in my diagnosis, and that the whisky was working against us."
— 1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 157:
"A statute that cannot find justification for its prescription in one or more of these principles violates international law."
— 1997, Richard G. Alexander, “Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996: Congress Exceeds Its Jurisdiction to Prescribe Law”, in Washington & Lee Law Review, page 1609:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The patient took the doctor's ____ to the pharmacy to get the medicine.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She took the ____ to the pharmacy and waited while the medication was prepared.