An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr., abbrv., or abbrev.; NPO, for nil per (by) os (mouth) is an abbreviated medical instruction. It may also consist of initials only, a mixture of initials and words, or words or letters representing words in another language. Some types of abbreviations are acronyms or grammatical contractions or crasis.
The symbol # is known variously in English-speaking regions as the number sign, hash, or pound sign. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes including the designation of an ordinal number and as a ligatured abbreviation for pounds avoirdupois – having been derived from the now-rare ℔.
Micro is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−6. Confirmed in 1960, the prefix comes from the Greek μικρός, meaning "small".
A prescription, often abbreviated ℞ or Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered health-care professional to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historically, it was a physician's instruction to an apothecary listing the materials to be compounded into a treatment—the symbol ℞ comes from the first word of a medieval prescription, Latin: Recipere, that gave the list of the materials to be compounded.
Rx is a common abbreviation for medical prescriptions derived from the Latin word for recipe, recipere.
A prescription drug is a pharmaceutical drug that is only permitted to be dispensed to those with a medical prescription. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The reason for this difference in substance control is the potential scope of misuse, from drug abuse to practicing medicine without a license and without sufficient education. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug.
OD or Od may refer to:
An eyeglass prescription is an order written by an eyewear prescriber, such as an optometrist, that specifies the value of all parameters the prescriber has deemed necessary to construct and/or dispense corrective lenses appropriate for a patient. If an eye examination indicates that corrective lenses are appropriate, the prescriber generally provides the patient with an eyewear prescription at the conclusion of the exam.
The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word number(s) indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, the written long-form of the address "Number 22 Acacia Avenue" is shortened to "№ 22 Acacia Ave", yet both forms are spoken long.
The drop is an approximated unit of measure of volume, the amount dispensed as one drop from a dropper or drip chamber. It is often used in giving quantities of liquid drugs to patients, and occasionally in cooking and in organic synthesis. The abbreviations gt or gtt come from the Latin noun gutta ("drop").
Pro re nata is a Latin phrase meaning "in the circumstances" or "as the circumstance arises". In medical terminology, it is often abbreviated PRN or P.R.N. and refers to the administration of prescribed medication as the situation calls for it.
QH, qh, or q.h. may refer to:
QHS, qhs, or q.h.s. may refer to:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to medicine:
Oral administration is a route of administration where a substance is taken through the mouth. Per os abbreviated to P.O. is sometimes used as a direction for medication to be taken orally. Many medications are taken orally because they are intended to have a systemic effect, reaching different parts of the body via the bloodstream, for example.