Agency Dictionary
Placebo
nounPronunciation: /pləˈsiː.boʊ/
In Portuguese: Placebo
Science & Health
Psychology & MindWhat does “Placebo” mean?
A medically ineffectual treatment or substance designed to deceive the recipient, often used as a control in scientific trials.
Etymology
From Latin placebo, the first-person singular future of placere (to please). The word entered English through its use in the Roman Catholic office for the dead, where it opened a vespers antiphon; that liturgical use is attested from the 13th century. The medical sense, naming an inert treatment given to satisfy a patient without acting on the disease, developed in the 18th century.
Usage note
In clinical trials a placebo is given to a control group so that the genuine effect of the treatment under study can be measured. The placebo effect refers to the real improvement a patient reports from an inert treatment.
Synonyms
- dummy treatment
- sugar pill
Often confused with
- nocebo
- A nocebo is the counterpart of a placebo: an inert treatment that produces a perceived negative effect because the patient expects harm rather than benefit.
Word family
- placebo-controlled
- placebo effect
Usage examples
It is also why placebo medicine plays such an important role in pharmacological research.
Concepts
- Placebo EffectThe placebo effect is a psychological and physiological phenomenon where a patient experiences genuine clinical improvement following the administration of an inert…
- Psychosomatic MedicinePsychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary field of medical science that explores the dynamic bidirectional interactions between psychological processes and…
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
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