PLACEBO Definition & Meaning

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placebo

[ pluh-see-boh plah-chey-boh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural placebos, placeboes.

Medicine/Medical, Pharmacology. Compare nocebo ( def 1 ).
1. a substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine.
2. a substance having no pharmacological effect but administered as a control in testing experimentally or clinically the efficacy of a biologically active preparation.
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.

placebo

/ ��əˈ��ː��əʊ /

noun

med an inactive substance or other sham form of therapy administered to a patient usually to compare its effects with those of a real drug or treatment, but sometimes for the psychological benefit to the patient through his believing he is receiving treatment See also control group placebo effect
something said or done to please or humour another
RC Church a traditional name for the vespers of the office for the dead

placebo

/ ��ə-��ŧ′��ō /

A substance containing no medication and prescribed to reinforce a patient's expectation of getting well or used as a control in a clinical research trial to determine the effectiveness of a potential new drug.

placebo

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

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Notes

Those receiving a placebo often get better, a phenomenon known as the placebo effect .

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of placebo¹

1175–1225 placebo fordef 2; 1775–85 placebo fordef 1; Middle English < Latin placē��ō “I shall be pleasing, acceptable”

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of placebo¹

C13 (in the ecclesiastical sense): from Latin Placebo Domino I shall please the Lord (from the opening of the office for the dead); C19 (in the medical sense)

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Example Sentences

She says this new longer format is showing promising results, even without patients taking MDMA, with a success rate of 40% in the placebo group.

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The trial is a double-blind study, so no one knows who is on the drug and who is taking the placebo, with researchers monitoring changes in iron levels in all participants.

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Anecdotal claims about smoother skin or increased energy are likely to be placebo effects.

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Using biological data from real people, Sanofi creates AI-based simulated patients - not actual clones of specific individuals - that can be interspersed across the control and placebo groups within the trial.

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She believes that puberty blockers should be an option available for young people questioning their gender and that many will not accept being part of a placebo group in a trial.

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