noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/pɹɪˈskɹɪp.tɪ.vɪ.zm̩/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
The practice of prescribing idealistic norms, as opposed to describing realistic forms, of linguistic usage.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: descriptivism
2
noun
Meaning 2
(linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting prescriptive linguistics
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism
3
noun
Meaning 3
(ethics) a doctrine holding that moral statements prescribe appropriate attitudes and behavior
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English prescriptive Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English prescriptivism From prescriptive + -ism.
Across languages
Translations
21 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Czech:
preskriptivismus
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Finnish:
preskriptiivinen kielioppi
— prescribing idealistic language norms
French:
prescriptivisme
— prescribing idealistic language norms
French:
normativisme
— prescribing idealistic language norms
German:
Präskriptivismus
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Hungarian:
preskriptivizmus
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Hungarian:
normativizmus
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Indonesian:
preskriptivisme
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Italian:
prescrittivismo
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Japanese:
規範主義
(kihanshugi)
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Latvian:
preskriptīvisms
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Polish:
preskryptywizm
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Polish:
normatywizm
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Portuguese:
prescritivismo
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Portuguese:
normativismo
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Russian:
прескриптивизм
(preskriptivizm)
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Serbo-Croatian:
preskriptivizam
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Slovak:
preskriptivizmus
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Spanish:
prescriptivismo
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Spanish:
normativismo
— prescribing idealistic language norms
Ukrainian:
прескриптивізм
(preskryptyvizm)
— prescribing idealistic language norms