Prescribe: meaning, example and synonyms
Prescribev. To authoritatively set down a rule or course of action to be followed.
Example
The academy's charter prescribed a rigid curriculum, so instructors who wished to teach modern languages had to petition the board for exceptions.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Synonyms
- dictate, stipulate, mandate, decree
- Antonyms
- forbid, proscribe, leave optional
- Memory tip
- pre (before) + scribe (write): rules written in advance.
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Check yourself: Prescribe in context
The guild's bylaws ______ exactly how apprentices must be trained, specifying the number of years, the tasks assigned, and the examinations required for promotion.
Answer: prescribe. Bylaws that specify required training lay down rules: they prescribe. Replenish (refill), extricate (free) and dwindle (shrink) don't describe rules setting requirements.
Rather than ______ a single method for every classroom, the new framework lets teachers choose approaches suited to their students.
Answer: prescribing. The contrast with letting teachers choose shows the framework avoids laying down one required method: prescribing. Replenishing (refilling), extricating (freeing) and dwindling (shrinking) don't contrast with choice.