placebo

See also Placebo

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /pləˈsiːbəʊ/
• (US) IPA: /pləˈsiboʊ/
• Rhymes: -iːbəʊ

Noun

placebo (plural placebos or placeboes)

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

Translations

a dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment

• Catalan: placebo (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 安慰劑 (cmn), 安慰剂 (cmn) (ānwèijì)

• Finnish: lumelääke (fi), plasebo (fi)
• French: placebo (fr) m
• Galician: placebo (gl) m

• German: Placebo (de) n, Plazebo (de) n
• Icelandic: lyfleysa (is) f, þóknunarhrifslyf (is) n
• Japanese: 偽薬 (ja) (ぎやく, giyaku), プラセボ (ja) (purasebo)
• Russian: плацебо (ru) (placébo) n (indeclinable)
• Spanish: placebo (es) m

---

French

Etymology

From Latin

Noun

placebo m (plural placebos)

1. placebo

---

Italian

Etymology

From Latin

Noun

Wikipedia ^it

placebo m (invariable)

1. (pharmacology, figuratively) placebo

Derived terms

• effetto placebo

---

Latin

Verb

placēbō

1. first-person singular future active indicative of placeō

---

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin

Noun

placebo m (plural placebos)

1. placebo