placebo
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English placebo, from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“I please”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo (plural placebos or placeboes)
- (medicine) A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment. [from 18th c.]
- 2010 February 22, Edzard Ernst, The Guardian:
- The acid test, I thought, was whether homeopathic remedies behave differently from placebos when submitted to clinical trials.
- 2021 March 8, Jane E. Brody, “Medical Marijuana Is Not Regulated as Most Medicines Are”, in The New York Times[1]:
- The trials overall showed some but limited effectiveness, and in one of the largest and longest trials, the placebo performed better in treating spasticity, pain and bladder dysfunction, Dr. Bowling wrote.
- (Roman Catholicism) The vespers sung in the office for the dead. [from 13th c.]
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 349:
- There the placebo, the office for the dead, was sung, and a vigil kept throughout the night.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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See also edit
Anagrams edit
Czech edit
Noun edit
placebo n
- placebo (dummy medicine containing no active ingredients)
Declension edit
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Further reading edit
- placebo in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo m (plural placebo's)
Derived terms edit
Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
Derived from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“I please”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo (accusative singular placebon, plural placeboj, accusative plural placebojn)
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo m (plural placebos)
Further reading edit
- “placebo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Interlingua edit
Noun edit
placebo (plural placebos)
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo m (invariable)
Derived terms edit
Latin edit
Verb edit
placēbō
References edit
- placebo in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Middle English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin placēbo, the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo (plural placeboes)
- (Christianity) The vespers sung in the office for the dead.
- a. 1380, John Wycliffe, Of feyned contemplatif lif, of ſong, of þe ordynal of ſalisbury, & of bodely almes & worldly byſyneſse of preſtis; hou bi þes foure þe fend lettiþ hem fro prechynge of þe gospel[2]:
- Þan were matynys & maſse & euen ſong, placebo & dirige & comendacion & matynes of oure lady ordeyned of ſynful men, to be ſongen wiþ heiȝe criynge to lette men fro þe ſentence & vnderſtondynge of þat þat was þus ſongen, & to maken men wery & vndiſpoſid to ſtudie goddis lawe for akyng of hedis […]
- Then there were matins, mass, evensong, placebo, dirges, commendations, and matins of Our Lady, which originated from sinful men, to be sung with high-pitched shrieking to keep people from the meaning and understanding of that which was sung, as to make men weary and unsuited to study God's law because of headaches […]
- Talk for buttering someone up, making them sycophantic or pleasing them.
- A representation or exemplar of adulation or sycophancy.
Descendants edit
- English: placebo
References edit
- “plācēbo, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-07.
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
placebo n (indeclinable)
Further reading edit
Portuguese edit
Pronunciation edit
- Hyphenation: pla‧ce‧bo
Noun edit
placebo m (plural placebos)
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
placebo n (uncountable)
Declension edit
singular | ||
---|---|---|
n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
nominative/accusative | (un) placebo | placeboul |
genitive/dative | (unui) placebo | placeboului |
vocative | placeboule |
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
From medical New Latin placēbō, from Latin placēbō (literally “I will please”).
Noun edit
placebo m (plural placebos)
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “placebo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014