prescribe
verb
Simple meaning
To order for use by a particular patient.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhskrybSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəskˈɹaɪb
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
medicine
Order the use of (a treatment, medicine, etc.), usually by written prescription
“The doctor prescribed steroids for my ear trouble.”
medicine
To order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).
To specify by writing as a required procedure or ritual; to lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action.
law
To develop or assert a right; to make a claim (by prescription).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Order the use of (a treatment, medicine, etc.), usually by written prescription
Used this way, prescribe is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
“The doctor prescribed steroids for my ear trouble.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prescribe
- “The doctor prescribed steroids for my ear trouble.”verb
- “My mother prescribes a good night's sleep as the cure for all ills.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- medicationnoun
- drugnoun
- glaucomanoun
- patientnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.