prescription
/pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/
"prescription" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prescription” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,169 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,169
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 20
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A written order from an authorized medical practitioner for provision of a medicine or other treatment, such as (ophthalmology) the specific lenses needed for a pair of glasses.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prescription |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #7,169 |
| Misspellings tracked | 20 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prescription” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for prescription is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,169 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 20 likely wrong-spelling variants for prescription, with forms such as "perscription", "pprescription", and "precsription". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "prescriptive", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French prescripcion, from Latin praescriptio (“preface; pretext; something written ahead of time”), from prae- (“pre-, before”) + scribere (“to write”) + -tio (“-tion, forming nouns”). Equivalent to prescribe + -tion. The correct English form is prescription, spelled P-R-E-S-C-R-I-P-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A written order from an authorized medical practitioner for provision of a medicine or other treatment, such as (ophthalmology) the specific lenses needed for a pair of glasses.
- 2The medicine or treatment provided by such an order.
- 3Any plan of treatment or handling; the treatment or handling thus provided.
- 4Synonym of enactment, the act of establishing a law, regulation, etc., particularly in writing; an instance of this.
- 5The act of establishing or formalizing ideal norms for language use, as opposed to describing the actual norms of such use; an instance of this.
- 6An established time period within which a right must be exercised and after which it is null and permanently unenforceable.
- 7An established time period after which a person who has uninterruptedly, peacefully, and publicly used another's property acquires full ownership of it.
- 8Synonym of self-restraint, limiting of one's actions especially according to a moral code or social conventions.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French prescripcion, from Latin praescriptio (“preface; pretext; something written ahead of time”), from prae- (“pre-, before”) + scribere (“to write”) + -tio (“-tion, forming nouns”). Equivalent to prescribe + -tion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: perscription,pprescription,precsription,presccription,prescirption,prescripiton,prescripption,prescripsion,prescriptino,prescriptionn,prescriptoin,prescripttion,prescritpion,prescrpition,prescrription,presrciption,presscription,prrescription,prsecription,rpescription
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of prescription - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "prescription"?
What does "prescription" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “prescription”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-E-S-C-R-I-P-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “prescriptive” - see the side-by-side comparison. prescription vs prescriptive
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.