[PW] Re: "x" in Rx (prescription)

[John Sleasman]

Jeanne Schramm wrote:
> The main opinions surrounding Rx seem to focus on: 1. Latin for recipe, 2.
> Corruption of the symbol for the Eye of Horus, the Egyptian symbol of
> healing and good fortune,   3. Corruption of the ancient symbol for the
> Roman god, Jupiter.
>   
A classics professor should really respond to part of this one, but in 
case there isn't one on the list...

It's been over 30 years since I took classical languages, but I suspect 
that 2 and 3 are attempts to fit an explanation around a theory. The 
(traditional) first explanation, which seems to be getting some popular 
support, also fits with the general system of "scribal abbreviations" in 
Latin (google that phrase for more general information), a complex 
series of shorthand adopted variously by copyists over the centuries 
before the use of movable type/printing (a general slash at the end can 
simply mean "some letters have been left out") - although "R-slash" 
doesn't specifically appear on a "short list."

In another context, to show the general use of the convention, while 
many recent publications have dropped them in favor of other "titles" or 
different typefaces to indicate the litany, liturgical religious 
material - Catholic, Episcopal/Anglican, Lutheran, etc. - often 
used/uses slashes on V and R to indicate that those letters are 
abbreviations for Versicle/Versiculus and Response/Responsum

The traditional reference for information on this (or any similar) mark 
dating to classical or medieval Latin is a book by Adriano Cappelli, 
originally published in Italian* at the end of the 19th century,  
translated into English some 20 years ago as "Elements of Abbreviation 
in Medieval Latin Paleography," available in a number of library 
collections. Shorter lists of more common abbreviations might also be 
found in advanced Latin (or Greek, as a similar pattern of scribal 
shorthand developed in that language) textbooks or references.

John Sleasman