4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Prescription  \Pre*scrip"tion\,  n.  [F.  prescription,  L. 
  praescriptio  an  inscription,  preface,  precept,  demurrer, 
  prescription  (in  sense  3),  fr  praescribere  See 
  {Prescribe}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  prescribing,  directing,  or  dictating; 
  direction;  precept;  also  that  which  is  prescribed. 
 
  2.  (Med.)  A  direction  of  a  remedy  or  of  remedies  for  a 
  disease,  and  the  manner  of  using  them  a  medical  recipe; 
  also  a  prescribed  remedy. 
 
  3.  (Law)  A  prescribing  for  title;  the  claim  of  title  to  a 
  thing  by  virtue  immemorial  use  and  enjoyment;  the  right  or 
  title  acquired  by  possession  had  during  the  time  and  in 
  the  manner  fixed  by  law.  --Bacon. 
 
  That  profound  reverence  for  law  and  prescription 
  which  has  long  been  characteristic  of  Englishmen. 
  --Macaulay. 
 
  Note:  Prescription  differs  from  custom,  which  is  a  local 
  usage,  while  prescription  is  personal,  annexed  to  the 
  person  only.  Prescription  only  extends  to  incorporeal 
  rights,  such  as  aright  of  way  or  of  common.  What  the 
  law  gives  of  common  rights  is  not  the  subject  of 
  prescription.  Blackstone.  Cruise.  Kent.  In  Scotch  law, 
  prescription  is  employed  in  the  sense  in  which 
  limitation  is  used  in  England  and  America,  namely,  to 
  express  that  operation  of  the  lapse  of  time  by  which 
  obligations  are  extinguished  or  title  protected.  Sir  T. 
  Craig.  Erskine. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Usucaption  \U`su*cap"tion\  (?;  277),  n.  [L.  usucapere 
  usucaptum  to  acquire  by  long  use  usu  (ablative  of  usus  use) 
  +  capere  to  take:  cf  usucapio  usucaption.]  (Roman  Law) 
  The  acquisition  of  the  title  or  right  to  property  by  the 
  uninterrupted  possession  of  it  for  a  certain  term  prescribed 
  by  law;  --  the  same  as  {prescription}  in  common  law. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  prescription 
  adj  :  (of  medicinal  drugs)  available  only  with  a  doctor's  written 
  prescription;  "a  prescription  drug"  [syn:  {prescription(a)}] 
  [ant:  {nonprescription(a)}] 
  n  1:  directions  for  achieving  a  therapeutic  effect 
  2:  a  drug  that  is  available  only  with  a  prescription  from  a 
  doctor  or  dentist  [syn:  {prescription  drug},  {prescription 
  medicien},  {ethical  drug}]  [ant:  {over-the-counter  drug}] 
  3:  written  instructions  for  an  optician  on  the  lenses  for  a 
  given  person 
  4:  written  instructions  from  a  physician  or  dentist  to  a 
  druggist  concerning  the  form  and  dosage  of  a  drug  to  be 
  issued  to  a  given  patient 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  PRESCRIPTION,  n.  A  physician's  guess  at  what  will  best  prolong  the 
  situation  with  least  harm  to  the  patient. 
 
 

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