prescription

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French prescripcion, from Latin praescriptio.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɹəˈskɹɪpʃən/

Noun

prescription (countable and uncountable, plural prescriptions)

  1. (law)
    1. The act of prescribing a rule, law, etc..
      • "Jurisdiction to prescribe" is a state's authority to make its laws applicable to certain persons or activities. -- Richard G. Alexander, Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996: Congress exceeds its jurisdiction to prescribe law. Washington and Lee Law Review, 1997.
    2. Also called limitation and negative prescription. A time period within which a right must be exercised, unless the right will be extinguished.
    3. Also called acquisitive prescription and positive prescription. A time period after which a person who has, in the role of an owner, uninterruptedly, peacefully, and publicly possessed another's property acquires the property. The described process is known as acquisition by prescription and adverse possession.
  2. (medicine, pharmacy) A written order, as by a physician or nurse practitioner, for the administration of a medicine or other intervention. See also scrip.
    • The surgeon wrote a prescription for a pain killer and physical therapy.
  3. (medicine) The prescription medicine or intervention so prescribed.
    • The pharmacist gave her a bottle containing her prescription.
  4. (ophthalmology) The formal description of the lens geometry needed for spectacles, etc..
    • The optician followed the optometrist's prescription for her new eyeglasses.
  5. A piece of advice.
    • "Early to bed and early to rise" is a prescription for a healthy lifestyle.

Synonyms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Adjective

prescription (not comparable)

  1. (of a drug, etc.) only available with a physician or nurse practitioner's written prescription
    Many powerful pain killers are prescription drugs in the U.S.

Translations

See also

French

Noun

prescription f (plural prescriptions)

  1. prescription (all senses)

Norman

Noun

prescription f (plural prescriptions)

  1. (Jersey) prescription
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