placebo
noun
- substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value, which may encourage the body's chemical processes for relieving pain and a few other symptoms, but have no impact on the disease itself
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pləˈsiː.bəʊ/ / /pləˈsi.boʊ/ / /pləˈsiː.bəʉ/
noun
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English placebo, borrowed from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“to please”).
- A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment.
“The acid test, I thought, was whether homeopathic remedies behave differently from placebos when submitted to clinical trials.”
“The trials overall showed some but limited effectiveness, and in one of the largest and longest trials, the placebo performed better in treating spasticity, pain and bladder dysfunction, Dr. Bowling wrote.”
- The vespers sung in the office for the dead.
“There the placebo, the office for the dead, was sung, and a vigil kept throughout the night.”