prescribed

[pri-skrahybd]

adjective

1. dictated or indicated as a rule or course of action to be followed.

   To limit your definition of art to certain prescribed forms is to cut yourself off from the bulk of human existence.

2. Medicine/Medical.,  (of a medicine, treatment, etc.) recommended or ordered by a qualified practitioner.

   Test results for legal or prescribed drugs are returned in about two minutes.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of prescribe.

Other Word Forms

• nonprescribed adjective
• self-prescribed adjective
• unprescribed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prescribed¹

prescribe ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The FDA called for the removal of its strongest warning on hormone treatments, which were once commonly prescribed to combat declining estrogen levels in middle-aged women.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But the teamwork of the performers honors the messy yet undeniably effective cooperation of Alice and her freedom fighters — women who changed the world by not staying silent in their prescribed place.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And mental health providers say the drugs are frequently prescribed to treat childhood trauma that has been misdiagnosed as ADHD.

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Laboratory tests showed that the peptide's impact on breast cancer cells was comparable to paclitaxel, a commonly prescribed chemotherapy treatment.

Read more on Science Daily

Menopausal hormone therapy, or hormone replacement therapy, as it is also called, was once commonly prescribed to combat declining estrogen levels in middle-aged women.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• arbitrary 
• recommended www.thesaurus.com