receitar

Receitar is a Portuguese verb meaning to prescribe medications or treatments by a qualified health professional. It is commonly used by doctors, dentists, veterinarians, and other healthcare providers to authorize a pharmacological treatment. A prescribed set of instructions is typically written as a medical prescription, or receita médica, which a patient takes to a pharmacy to obtain the medicines.

The term derives from the noun receita, which has dual meanings in Portuguese: a cooking recipe and a medical prescription. In medical usage, receitar is the act of issuing a receita médica; the verb is not used for culinary recipes.

As a regular -ar verb, receitar follows standard Portuguese conjugation patterns. In the present tense, common forms include eu receito, você/ele/ela receita, nós receitamos, eles/elas receitam. Other tenses and moods follow the regular -ar paradigm, for example, receitei (past), receitaria (conditional).

Usage notes: In clinical writing, prescrever is another common verb meaning to prescribe. "Receitar" emphasizes the act of issuing the prescription, while "prescrever" can denote the broader act of recommending medication or therapy. The patient uses the prescription to obtain medication at a pharmacy; a valid prescription is required in most jurisdictions.