verordnen

Verordnen is a German verb with two principal meanings. In the medical context it means to issue a prescription or to prescribe a medicine or therapy to a patient. In the administrative or political sense it means to order, decree, or mandate something by an authority, such as a government or institution.

Grammatically, verordnen is a prefix verb formed with ver- and is inseparable. It follows the regular conjugation pattern of weak verbs. Conjugation examples: ich verordne, du verordnest, er verordnet; wir verordnen, ihr verordnet, sie verordnen. Präteritum: ich verordnete, du verordnetest, er verordnete; Perfekt: ich habe verordnet. In sentence structure, one can have jm. etwas verordnen, i.e., verordnen someone something. A common medical construction is der Arzt verordnete dem Patienten ein Schmerzmittel.

Nouns related to the verb include die Verordnung, which in medical terms refers to a prescription, and in administrative terms refers to a regulation or ordinance issued by authorities. The verb is often used with a related medical synonym verschreiben, though there are stylistic and contextual nuances: verschreiben is very common for prescribing medications, while verordnen emphasizes an authoritative or formal issuance.

Usage notes: verordnen can appear both in clinical writing and in official decrees. In everyday medical language, people often speak of a “ärztliche Verordnung.” In news or policy language one might encounter “neue Maßnahmen verordnen” to describe authorities imposing rules. The term conveys the sense of an instruction issued by someone with formal authority and typically entails an obligation or recommended course of action for the recipient.