Etymology : partly from Middle English prescripcion establishment of a claim, from Middle French prescription, from Late Latin praescription-, praescriptio, from Latin, act of writing at the beginning, order, limitation of subject matter, from praescribere; partly fr
Pronunciation : pri-'skrip-sh&n
Function : noun
Date : 14th century
1. written order for a medication; instruction, directive; order, command. of or pertaining to a medical prescription; obtainable only with a medical prescription (about a medication). prescription\pre*scrip"tion\ , n. [f. prescription, l. praescriptio, an inscription, preface, precept, demurrer, prescription (in sense 3), fr. praescribere. see:
prescribe.].
2. the act of prescribing, directing, or dictating; direction; precept; also, that which is prescribed.
3. (med.) a direction of a remedy or of remedies for a disease, and the manner of using them; a medical recipe; also, a prescribed remedy.
4. (law) a prescribing for title; the claim of title to a thing by virtue immemorial use and enjoyment; the right or title acquired by possession had during the time and in the manner fixed by law. that profound reverence for law and prescription which has long been characteristic of englishmen.note: prescription differs from custom, which is a local usage, while prescription is personal, annexed to the person only. prescription only extends to incorporeal rights, such as aright of way, or of common. what the law gives of common rights is not the subject of prescription. blackstone. cruise. kent. in scotch law, prescription is employed in the sense in which limitation is used in england and america, namely, to express that operation of the lapse of time by which obligations are extinguished or title protected. sir t. craig. erskine.prescription (of medicinal drugs) available only with a doctor's written prescription; "a prescription drug" [syn: prescription(a) ] [ant: nonprescription(a) ] n.
5. directions prescribed beforehand; the action of prescribing authoritative rules or directions; "i tried to follow her prescription for success".
6. a drug that is available only with written instructions from a doctor or dentist to a pharmacist; "he told the doctor that he had been taking his prescription regularly" [syn: prescription drug, prescription medicine, ethical drug ] [ant: over-the-counter drug, over-the-counter drug ].
7. written instructions for an optician on the lenses for a given person.
8. written instructions from a physician or dentist to a druggist concerning the form and dosage of a drug to be issued to a given patient.
9. The act of prescribing, directing, or dictating; direction; precept; also, that which is prescribed.
10. A direction of a remedy or of remedies for a disease, and the manner of using them; a medical recipe; also, a prescribed remedy.
11. A prescribing for title; the claim of title to a thing by virtue of immemorial use and enjoyment; the right or title acquired by possession had during the time and in the manner fixed by law. written instructions from a physician or dentist to a druggist concerning the form and dosage of a drug to be issued to a given patient written instructions for an optician on the lenses for a given person directions prescribed beforehand; the action of prescribing authoritative rules or directions; "I tried to follow her prescription for success".
12. 1. A prescription is the piece of paper on which your doctor writes an order for medicine and which you give to a chemist or pharmacist to get the medicine. You will have to take your prescription to a chemist.
13. A prescription is a medicine which a doctor has told you to take. The prescription Ackerman gave me isn't doing any good. If a medicine is available on prescription, you can only get it from a chemist or pharmacist if a doctor gives you a prescription for it. The drug is available on prescription only.
14. A prescription is a proposal or a plan which gives ideas about how to solve a problem or improve a situation. the economic prescriptions of Ireland's main political parties. In property law, the effect of the lapse of time in creating and destroying rights. Acquisitive prescription allows an individual, after unequivocal possession for a specific period, to acquire an interest in real property, such as an easement, but not the property itself. See also adverse possession.