prescribe
v.v. to give a formal rule or order that people must follow. In medicine, it means a doctor writes an official note for the specific medicine you need.
v. to state officially that a particular rule or medicine must be followed or used. Often used in legal contexts to establish requirements or in medical contexts to authorise treatment.
The doctor will prescribe some medicine for your cough.
The new law does not prescribe a specific punishment, leaving the final decision to the local judge.
While the constitution does not explicitly prescribe a method for selection, historical precedent has established a rigorous vetting process for all potential candidates.
Borrowed from Latin praescrībere, from prae- (“before, in front”) and scrībere (“to write”).
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object. In medical contexts, it often takes the preposition 'for' to indicate the condition being treated.
The doctor prescribed me a rest.The doctor prescribed rest for me.Prescribe is not a ditransitive verb; you prescribe something (the treatment) for someone, rather than prescribing someone something.