Prescribe

Prescribe is a verb meaning to lay down as a rule or to authorize the use of something, usually a medicine or treatment for a patient. It is used in both medical and administrative contexts. In medicine, to prescribe a drug is to authorize its use with a specified dose and duration.

In medical practice, a prescriber is a licensed health professional who writes or transmits a prescription. The prescription names the medication or therapy, the dosage or concentration, the route of administration, frequency, and total duration, and may include instructions or cautions. Prescriptions may be issued in written form or electronically, depending on local regulations. Pharmacists dispense the medication in accordance with the prescription, and some medicines are restricted to prescription-only status or controlled substances under law.

In nonmedical usage, prescribe can describe setting rules or guidelines. For example, a contract or policy may prescribe a minimum term, a required process, or specific standards of conduct. The verb is sometimes contrasted with proscribe, which means to forbid or prohibit.

The word derives from Latin praescribere, meaning "to write beforehand" (prae "before" + scribere "to write"). The sense of writing a rule or order before action dates from early modern English.