dosage

American  

[doh-sij] / ˈdoʊ sɪdʒ /

noun

dosages plural

1. the administration of medicine in doses.

2. the amount of medicine to be given.

3. Physics. dose.

4. the process of adding a sugar solution to champagne and other sparkling wines before final corking.

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dosage British  

/ ˈdəʊsɪdʒ /

noun

1. the administration of a drug or agent in prescribed amounts and at prescribed intervals

2. the optimum therapeutic dose and optimum interval between doses

3. another name for dose dose

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dosages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dosage

First recorded in 1840–50; dose + -age

Explanation

Dosage is the amount of medicine you take and how often you take it. The recommended dosage for your antibiotic might be one pill twice a day for a week, for example. Prescription medications, as well as drugs like aspirin or cough syrup that you buy over the counter, include the dosage information on the bottle or container. Nutritional supplements, such as vitamin C, also include a dosage or a suggested quantity to take. In medicine, dose is used to mean "amount" and dosage to mean "frequency."

Related Words

• application
• lot
• measure
• measurement
• prescription
• quantity
• shot