Where does “prescription” come from?
Prescription comes from Old French prescripcion, from Latin praescriptio (a written direction or legal claim), combining Latin prae (before) and scribo (to write).
prescription (English): The act of prescribing a rule, law, etc; Also...
Definitions
- The act of prescribing a rule, law, etc; Also...
Ancestry of “prescription”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | prescripcion | — |
| 2 | Latin | praescriptio | preface, introduction, commencement; pretext,... |
| 3 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 4 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 5 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 6 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 8 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 9 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |