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Definition of placebo - 6 dictionary results

pla⋅ce⋅bo

  [pluh-see-boh for 1; plah-chey-boh for 2]
Use placebo in a Sentence
–noun, plural -bos, -boes.
1. Medicine/Medical, Pharmacology.
a. a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine.
b. a substance having no pharmacological effect but administered as a control in testing experimentally or clinically the efficacy of a biologically active preparation.
2. Roman Catholic Church. the vespers of the office for the dead: so called from the initial word of the first antiphon, taken from Psalm 114:9 of the Vulgate.
Origin:
1175–1225 for def. 2; 1775–85 for def. 1; ME < L placēbō I shall be pleasing, acceptable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pla·ce·bo   (plə-sē'bō)   
n.   pl. pla·ce·bos or pla·ce·boes

    1. A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well.

    2. An inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug.

  2. Something of no intrinsic remedial value that is used to appease or reassure another.

  3. (plä-chā'bō) Roman Catholic Church The service or office of vespers for the dead.


[Middle English, from Late Latin placēbō, I shall please (the first word of the first antiphon of the service), first person sing. future tense of Latin placēre, to please; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

placebo [(pluh-see-boh)]

A substance containing no active drug, administered to a patient participating in a medical experiment as a control.

Note: Those receiving a placebo often get better, a phenomenon known as the placebo effect.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

placebo 
c.1225, name given to the rite of Vespers of the Office of the Dead, so called from the opening of the first antiphon, "I will please the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm cxiv:9), from L. placebo "I shall please," future indic. of placere "to please" (see please). Medical sense is first recorded 1785, "a medicine given more to please than to benefit the patient."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: pla·ce·bo
Pronunciation: pl&-'sE-(")bO
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -bos
1 : a medicationprescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder
2 : an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testingthe efficacy of another substance (as a drug)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

placebo pla·ce·bo (plə-sē'bō)
n. pl. pla·ce·bos or pla·ce·boes

  1. A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well.

  2. An inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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