1(of a medical practitioner) advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment) for someone, especially in writing:her doctor prescribed sleeping tablets [with two objects]:he was prescribed a course of antibiotics
recommend (a substance or action) as something beneficial:marriage is often prescribed as a universal remedy
2state authoritatively or as a rule that (an action or procedure) should be carried out:rules prescribing five acts for a play are purely arbitrary
