Hypertext Webster Gateway: "placebo"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Placebo \Pla*ce"bo\, n. [L., I shall please, fut. of placere to
please.]
1. (R. C. Ch.) The first antiphon of the vespers for the
dead.
2. (Med.) A prescription intended to humor or satisfy.
{To sing placebo}, to agree with one in his opinion; to be
complaisant to. --Chaucer.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
placebo
n 1: an innocuous or inert medication; given as a pacifier or to
the control group in experiments on the efficacy of a
drug
2: Roman Catholic Church: vespers of the office for the dead
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