Why is the symbol for “prescription” written as Rx?
Rx is thought to be an abbreviation for the Latin word for recipe. It’s a direction for the pharmacist and is to precede the “formula” instructions. Naturally, pharmacists don’t really need recipe directions anymore, but when the direction “Rx” was given, medications were often mixed by the pharmacist and a recipe could very well have been required! Nowadays there are many two-letter medical abbreviations that end in “x”. A few: Tx – Treatment Fx – Fracture Hx – History Dx – Diagnosis There are others, but these are the most common. I remember learning about this in pharmacy technician training, but I went looking for an outside source and found this website. It’s got an interesting alternate theory on the origin of the abbreviation; some apparently think it’s derived from the Eye of Horus, an Egyptian symbol for good health.
