Prescribe vs. Proscribe

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Understanding the difference between commonly confused words will help you avoid making errors in English usage. Let’s examine the difference between the following:

prescribe

Prescribe means to authorize the use of a certain medical remedy, especially in writing; to recommend something beneficial; to state with authority that a certain action should be carried out; or to set down as a rule or guide. Prescribe carries a positive or at least neutral connotation.

The doctor prescribed a short course of antibiotics for Penelope’s infection.
The doctor is prescribing medication.

proscribe

Proscribe means to forbid or prohibit something, especially by law, or to denounce or outlaw. Proscribe carries a negative connotation.

Smoking inside workplaces is proscribed by legislation. 

If a doctor has been censured by the authorities for wrongdoing, he or she might be proscribed from prescribing medications for a time.
Smoking is proscribed in the office.

A list of prescribed books for a course (ones the students must read) will not contain any proscribed books (ones banned by the authorities).

☛ To help you tell these words apart, link prescribe in your mind with a doctor’s prescription: something you should do. Link the pro in proscribe with the similar-sounding no: something you should not do.

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