prescription

B1 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/ See IPA manual

Homophones

proscription /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/

Freq #6082

Meanings

1

noun
A written order from a doctor for a medicine or treatment.

The surgeon had written thousands of prescriptions for painkillers.
2

noun
A medicine that you can only get with a doctor's written order.

I need you to pick up grandma's prescriptions on your way home.
3

noun
A suggested plan or method for dealing with a problem.

Early to bed and early to rise is a prescription for good health.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a written order from a... scrip

2 noun · a medicine that you can... prescription drug

Word family

Forms prescriptions

Derived forms coprescriptiondeprescriptione-prescriptionmisprescriptionnon-prescriptionnonprescriptionoverprescriptionprescriptionistprescriptionisticprescriptionlessreprescriptionunderprescription

Related forms prescribeprescriptivism

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

prescription drug
a medicine supplied only with authorization from an appropriate medical professional

Noun + noun

Etymology

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.

prescripcion Old French praescriptio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine

External links

# prescription

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 6082

## Meanings
1. A written order from a doctor for a medicine or treatment.
2. A medicine that you can only get with a doctor's written order.
3. A suggested plan or method for dealing with a problem.

## Examples
- The surgeon had written thousands of prescriptions for painkillers.
- I need you to pick up grandma's prescriptions on your way home.
- Early to bed and early to rise is a prescription for good health.

## Derived Forms
- coprescription
- deprescription
- e-prescription
- misprescription
- non-prescription
- nonprescription
- overprescription
- prescriptionist
- prescriptionistic
- prescriptionless
- represcription
- underprescription

## Related Forms
- prescribe
- prescriptivism

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prescripcion
- Root: praescriptio

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Prescription was 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. In present-day English it covers a written order from a doctor for a medicine or treatment, a medicine that you can only get with a doctor's written order, and a suggested plan or method for dealing with a problem. The wider family includes derived forms such as coprescription, deprescription, e-prescription, misprescription, non-prescription and related forms such as prescribe, prescriptivism.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine

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