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  place placebo effect  
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   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
placebo
 
SYLLABICATION:pla·ce·bo
PRONUNCIATION:  pl-sb
NOUN:Inflected forms: pl. pla·ce·bos or pla·ce·boes
1a. A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well. b. 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-chb) Roman Catholic Church The service or office of vespers for the dead.
ETYMOLOGY:Middle English, from Late Latin placb, I shall please (the first word of the first antiphon of the service), first person sing. future tense of Latin placre, to please. See plk-1 in Appendix I.
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  place placebo effect  
 
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