placebo

Word History: Like the word dirge, placebo has its origin in the Office of the Dead, the cycle of prayers traditionally sung or recited for the repose of the souls of the dead. The traditional liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church is Latin, and in Latin, the first word of the first antiphon of the vespers service is placēbō, "I shall please." This word is taken from a phrase in the psalm text that is recited after the antiphon, placēbō Dominō in regiōne vīvōrum, "I shall please the Lord in the land of the living." The vespers service of the Office of the Dead came to be called placebo in Middle English, and the expression sing placebo came to mean "to flatter, be obsequious." Chaucer, for example, uses the phrase on two occasions. In the Summoner's Tale, a friar offers the following piece of advice: Beth war, therfor, with lordes how ye pleye. / Singeth placebo and 'I shal if I kan,' "Be wary, therefore, how you deal with lords. / Sing 'Placebo' and 'I shall if I can.'" Placebo eventually came to mean "flatterer" and "sycophant." In the 1700s, placebo began to be used of prescriptions written by a physician solely to please a patient, as by satisfying the patient's desire to take medicine. In many cases, the patient would actually benefit, thanks to what became known as the placebo effect. Later, placebo came to refer to neutral substances used in controlled studies testing the effectiveness of medications.