prescribe
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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Medicine/Medical. to designate remedies, treatment, etc., to be used.
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Law. to claim a right or title by virtue of long use and enjoyment; make a prescriptive claim. (usually followed by for orto ).
verb
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to lay down as a rule or directive
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law to claim or acquire (a right, title, etc) by prescription
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law to make or become invalid or unenforceable by lapse of time
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med to recommend or order the use of (a drug or other remedy)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonprescribernoun
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misprescribeverb
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prescribernoun
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represcribeverb (used with object)
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prescribableadjective
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overprescribeverb
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has prescribedperfect 3rd person singular
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have prescribedperfect
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are prescribingprogressive
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has been prescribingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is prescribingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am prescribingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been prescribingperfect progressive
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prescribingparticiple
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prescribessingular 3rd person
Past
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had prescribedperfect
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were prescribingprogressive plural
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had been prescribingperfect progressive
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was prescribingprogressive singular
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prescribedsimple
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prescribedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of prescribe
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English from Latin praescrībere “to direct in writing,” literally, “to write before or above,” equivalent to prae- pre- + scrībere “to write”; see scribe 1, prescription
Explanation
To prescribe is make orders or give directions for something to be done. These days, the word is mainly used by doctors who prescribe medications to take. Doctors do a lot of prescribing: they prescribe drugs, rest, exercise, and getting rid of bad habits like smoking. When a doctor prescribes something, he or she is saying, "You need to do this. You should do it." That's the most common use of prescribe, but it pops up anywhere someone is advising or ordering someone to do something. All laws and rules prescribe things — they tell you what to do.
Vocabulary lists containing prescribe
Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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"Preamble" and "Bill of Rights," Vocabulary from the U.S. Constitution
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Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The motion capture system used to prescribe each person's walking change is expensive and time consuming.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
The antidote psychologists prescribe is mental subtraction: deliberately imagining life without what you take for granted.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Those pills can be sent through the mail, and doctors can easily prescribe them on a video call, over the phone, or through digital forms.
From Slate • May 18, 2026
"There is a cohort of patients who I feel would absolutely benefit from it but they don't quite meet the criteria and I am not allowed to prescribe it," she said.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Rather than prescribe anything to combat the illness that was now wreaking havoc on my system, the doctor told me my body was doing its job and would rid itself of everything on its own.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
