Skip to main content

Rx Symbol


Have you ever wondered why medicines are denoted with an ℞ or Rx symbol? There are actually many theories about its origin but the most common one is that the symbol for prescriptions originated from the "Eye of Horus", which was an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with healing powers. According to Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle but his mom used her powers to restore his eye, hence it became a symbol of healing. 

Eye of Horus

In the 2nd century, Greek physician Galen adapted this symbol to impress his patients. Galen’s influence on medicine was so strong that even the symbol was borrowed through the centuries and it eventually evolved into the modern symbol Rx (the eye of Horus kinda looks like an Rx).

Other theories place its origin in Latin and Roman times. One theory is that Rx was used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipere, meaning “to prepare,” which physicians wrote on medical prescriptions. Yet another theory points to the similarity of the Rx symbol to the symbol for Jupiter, the Roman god.

Jupiter's symbol

Some folks believe that the Roman physicians wrote the Jupiter’s symbol on prescriptions as a prayer for the patient, while others think it might have been used to defy Christianity. Whatever the case, it is believed Jupiter’s symbol eventually morphed into the modern symbol of ℞.

While all three theories sound plausible, I personally find the first one most interesting and so I choose to believe that one. The truth is probably a combination of some or all of the theories.

Comparison of Eye of Horus, Jupiter and Rx prescription symbols

Whatever its origin, the ℞ symbol was used until around the 18th century, which then evolved to the modern letters Rx denoting the verb "take." A prescription reading "Rx two advils" means "take two advils." 


Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/where-did-the-rx-symbol-come-from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rx 

 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Origin of Neurology

As I consider majoring in neurobiology (the study of the biological mechanisms that control the nervous system) in college, I thought it would be interesting to delve into the origins of neuroscience. For hundreds of years from the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks, humans believed that the seat of intellect was the heart (which is why the ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve the heart after death but discarded the brain!)    The birth of neurology began 2500 years ago with Hippocrates who pondered over the purpose and functioning of the brain, reasoning that the brain must be the organ controlling sensation simply because most sensory organs - eyes, ears, and tongue -- are located close to the brain. This was starkly different from other opinions of the time which held that the heart was the main organ that controlled everything in humans. The brain was simply thought to be a "radiator" for pumping the heart and keeping it cool.  Later, Hippocrates expanded ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breathing Therapy

One of the key elements of yoga is breathing exercises; in fact, many claim breathing techniques called pranayama form the foundation of yoga as one of its eight pillars, along with asanas (exercises), meditation.  Pranayama is derived from Sanskrit words,  prana meaning "life force" and yama meaning "control." So essentially it means controlling your life force. (More on the life force concept to follow, but I also covered it in a previous post which can be found at https://ancientmedicina.blogspot.com/2020/09/vital-energy-in-ancient-medicine.html)  One of the pranayama exercises used in yoga is called  Nadi Shodhana  which means purification of the channel or flow in Sanskrit. It requires timed deep inhaling and exhaling from alternate nostrils repeatedly. While pranayama is common practice for anyone with knowledge of yoga (including my family), what is not widely known is the real medical benefits of this breathing technique. Many people do it because it ...
Post a Comment
Read more