Hypertext Webster Gateway: "prescriptive"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Prescriptive \Pre*scrip"tive\, a. [L. praescriptivus of a
demurrer or legal exception.] (Law)
Consisting in, or acquired by, immemorial or long-continued
use and enjoyment; as, a prescriptive right of title;
pleading the continuance and authority of long custom.
The right to be drowsy in protracted toil has become
prescriptive. --J. M. Mason.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
prescriptive
adj 1: (grammar) giving directives or rules; "prescriptive grammar
is concerned with norms of or rules for correct usage"
[syn: {normative}] [ant: {descriptive}]
2: based on or prescribing a norm or standard; "normative
grammar" [syn: {normative}]
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