v.
- advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment), especially in writing.
▸recommend as beneficial.
- state authoritatively that (something) should be done in a particular way.
Derivative
- prescribable adj.
- prescriber n.
Usage
The verbs prescribe and proscribe do not have the same meaning. Prescribe is a much commoner word and means either ‘issue a medical prescription’ or ‘recommend with authority’, as in the doctor prescribed antibiotics. Proscribe, on the other hand, means ‘condemn or forbid’, as in gambling was strictly proscribed by the authorities.
Etymology
ME (in the senses ‘confine within bounds, claim by prescription’): from L. praescribere ‘direct in writing’, from prae ‘before’ + scribere ‘write’.
