Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

q.2h
Take once every 2 hours.
q.3h
Take once every 3 hours.
q.4h
Take once every 4 hours.
tabs
Tablets
t.i.d.
Take three times per day. From the Latin
term 
ter in die
.
ut dict
Take as directed. From the Latin term 
ut
dictum
.
Appendix A 
Prescription Abbreviations
Prescriptions are the traditional means by which a physician permits patients to obtain certain medications
and/or supplies from pharmacies. The word prescription is derived from the Latin 
prae,
meaning “before,”
and 
scribere,
meaning “to write.” This reflected the fact that a prescription had to be written before a drug
could be prepared and administered to a patient. A number of abbreviations, many derived from Latin terms,
are used on prescription forms and medication labels. These include the following:
Drug Caution Codes
Drug caution codes are abbreviations that are applied to medications to indicate caution. Drug caution codes
provide valuable warnings to patients and their families. They include both universal codes that apply to all
patients and specific caution codes that apply under certain circumstances. In the US, a system of stickers with
pictographs may also be used to warn of specific side effects, such as drowsiness. Patients who see one of
these codes on their prescriptions should talk to a pharmacist before using the medications.
Universal Caution Codes
D
Drowsiness
H
Habit forming
I
Interaction
X
S.O.S. (contains a substance, such as acetamin-
ophen, that could cause problems; consult a phar-
macist)
Specific Caution Codes
A
ASA (contains acetylsalicylic acid [aspirin])
C
Caution