prescribes

Prescribes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb prescribe. It is used to indicate that someone, typically a medical professional such as a physician, orders or recommends a treatment, medication, or regimen for a patient. It can also appear in legal or regulatory language to describe requirements or directives that must be followed.

The verb derives from Latin praescribere, meaning to write beforehand, and its use spans medical, legal, and policy contexts. Related forms include prescribe, prescribed, and prescribing. The term is commonly followed by a direct object (the thing prescribed) or by a clause specifying what must be done. It is distinct from pro-scribe, which means to prohibit or ban.

In medical usage, a clinician prescribes drugs or therapies with specified dosage and duration. For example, “The doctor prescribes antibiotics.” In regulatory or policy language, a rule or guideline may prescribe procedures or limits, as in “The regulation prescribes reporting deadlines.” The word often appears in discussions of treatment plans, medication management, or compliance with formal requirements.

See also: prescription, prescribing, proscription.