prescriptivism

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

prescriptivism
    n 1: (ethics) a doctrine holding that moral statements prescribe
         appropriate attitudes and behavior
    2: (linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting prescriptive
       linguistics

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

prescriptivism \pre*scrip"tiv*ism\, n.
   The doctrine that acceptable grammatical rules should be
   prescribed by authority, rather than be determined by common
   usage.
   [PJC]

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