Etymology

prescriptive

pre·scrip·tive
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Today it means: Of or pertaining to prescribing or enjoining, especially an action or behavior based on a norm or standard. Full definition →

Latin praescriptivus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed frompraescriptivus“relating to a legal exception”
  2. English todayprescriptive

From Latin praescriptivus (“relating to a legal exception”), from praescript- (“directed in writing”), from the verb praescribere.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.