prescriptive

American

[pri-skrip-tiv] / prɪˈskrɪp tɪv /

adjective

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.

prescriptive British

/ prɪˈskrɪptɪv /

adjective

making or giving directions, rules, or injunctions
sanctioned by long-standing usage or custom
derived from or based upon legal prescription

a prescriptive title

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

nonprescriptive adjective
prescriptively adverb
prescriptiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of prescriptive

First recorded in 1740–50; prescript + -ive, modeled on descriptive, destructive, etc.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023