prescriptive [pri-skrip -tiv]
Word Origin
that prescribes ; giving directions or injunctions: a prescriptive letter from an anxious father. depending on or arising from effective legal prescription , as a right or title established by a long unchallenged tenure. Show More
Origin of prescriptive 1740–50; prescript +
-ive , modeled on
descriptive, etc.
Related forms pre·scrip·tive·ly , adverb pre·scrip·tive·ness , noun non·pre·scrip·tive , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for non-prescriptive making or giving directions, rules, or injunctions sanctioned by long-standing usage or custom derived from or based upon legal prescription a prescriptive title Show More
Derived Forms prescriptively , adverb prescriptiveness , noun Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for non-prescriptive adj. 1748, from Late Latin praescriptivus , from praescript- , past participle stem of praescribere (see prescription ). Or formed in English from archaic prescript "a direction" (1530s), from Latin praescriptum .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
