prescription Definition

prescription
noun

1a. A set of written instructions from a doctor to a pharmacist regarding the preparation and dispensing of a drug, etc for a particular patient;
1b. The drug, etc prescribed in this way by a doctor;

Thesaurus: medicine, remedy, treatment, drug, formula, recipe, mixture, preparation.


Example: prescription drugs
2a. A set of written instructions for an optician stating the type of lenses required to correct a patient's vision;


Example: prescription sunglasses
3. The act of prescribing.
4. law.
Uninterrupted use or possession of property over a period of time fixed by law, after which a title or right is acquired.

Idiom: on prescription

Said of medicines: available only on the presentation to the pharmacist of a prescription from a doctor.

Etymology: 14c: from Latin praescriptio an order; see prescribe.