placebo

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /pləˈsiː.bəʊ/
• (America) IPA: /pləˈsi.boʊ/

Noun

placebo (plural placebos)

1. (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.

2. (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.

Translations

• French: placebo
• German: Placebo, Plazebo
• Italian: placebo
• Portuguese: placebo
• Russian: плаце́бо
• Spanish: placebo

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