Placebo

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /pləˈsiːbəʊ/
• US IPA: /pləˈsiboÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -iːbəʊ

Origin

From Latin placēbō ("I will please"), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō ("I please").

Full definition of placebo

Noun

1. (Roman Catholicism) The vespers sung in the office for the dead. from 13th c.
• 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 349:There the placebo, the office for the dead, was sung, and a vigil kept throughout the night.
2. (medicine) A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment. from 18th c.
• 2010, Edzard Ernst, The Guardian, 22 Feb 2010:The acid test, I thought, was whether homeopathic remedies behave differently from placebos when submitted to clinical trials.

Antonyms

• nocebo

Derived terms

• antiplacebo
• nonplacebo
• placebic
• placebo effect