Spanish Conversation · Level 9
90 words
Spanish word
prescribir
Pronunciation
IPA/pɾeskɾiˈβiɾ/
Meaning
- verbprescribe
Example
El médico prescribe el antibiótico.
The doctor prescribes the antibiotic.
More examples
El médico prescribió reposo durante una semana.
The doctor prescribed bed rest for a week.
Core concept
Official written order for a treatment or rule.
Common phrases
prescribir un medicamento
prescribe medication
prescribir un tratamiento
prescribe a treatment
prescribir reposo
prescribe bed rest
Similar words
recetar: Medical prescription written for a patient listing medicines and how to take them.
recomendar: Advice encouraging someone to do, try, or choose a particular action or option.
indicar: Instruction that indicates what to do or how to carry out a procedure.
mandar: Authoritative order that requires someone to perform a specific action.
Definition in Spanish
Ordenar o fijar oficialmente algo por escrito, como un tratamiento médico o una norma; en contextos jurídicos, producir la extinción de un derecho por el transcurso del tiempo.
Word origin
From Latin praescribere (prae- 'before' + scribere 'write'), literally 'write beforehand', originally meaning to set something down in writing and so to order or fix it officially.
Usage tips
- In everyday speech about medicines speakers often use recetar while prescribir sounds more formal and appears in medical reports or legal texts.
Other meanings
- lay downverb
- become time-barredverb
Opposites
- prohibirforbidverb
Related words
- prescripciónprescriptionnoun
- prescritoprescribedadjective