# placebo

> English word · Noun · IPA /pləˈsiː.bəʊ/ · frequency rank #15,477

## Definitions
1. A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment.
2. The vespers sung in the office for the dead.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English placebo, borrowed from Latin placēbō (“I will please”), the first-person singular future active indicative of placeō (“I please”).

## Easily confused with
- **places** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/placebo-vs-places)
- **placed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/placebo-vs-placed)
- **placer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/placebo-vs-placer)
- **place** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/place-vs-placebo)

## Common misspellings (10)
`lpacebo`, `palcebo`, `placbeo`, `placcebo`, `placebbo`, `placeob`, `plaecbo`, `plcaebo`, `pllacebo`, `pplacebo`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/placebo