Dosages

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specific amount of a medication or substance to be administered at one time
2. The prescribed quantity of medicine taken to achieve a desired effect or maintain therapeutic levels
3. An assigned quantity of a pharmaceutical compound, often tailored to individual needs to ensure efficacy and safety

Etymology: "Dosages" is the plural of "dosage", which comes from French, where "dosage" means the act of measuring out a dose. The French noun is built on "dose", itself borrowed from Latin "dosis", a word taken from Greek "dosis", meaning "a giving" or "a portion given," from the verb "didonai," "to give." So at its root the word simply describes something handed over. In English the plural "dosages" refers to the different quantities of a medication prescribed or administered, so a patient might be given several dosages over the course of a treatment. The shift from the idea of giving to a measured amount of a drug follows naturally from the medical use of "dose," which the French and English terms share.

Synonyms: doses, quantities