Placebo in history
（重定向自Obecalp）
![Doctors and surgeons such as Ambroise Paré traditionally emphasized the importance of consoling the patient through the use of 'placebos'. This is the title page to one of Paré's works.](/Images/godic/202501/30/Title_page_of_Ambroise_Pare's_Ouevres0325.jpg")
![Metallic Tractors. Caricature of a quack treating a patient with Perkins Patent Tractors by James Gillray, 1801.](/Images/godic/202501/30/Gillray_-_Treatment_with_tractors0325.jpg")
![John Haygarth was the first to demonstrate the placebo effect in 1799.](/Images/godic/202501/30/John_Haygarth0325.jpg")
Placebo in history is the account of the changing understanding of the phenomena of the placebo effect and term "placebo".
The word was first used in a medicinal context in the late 18th century to describe a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient". Although this definition contained a derogatory implication it did not necessarily imply that the remedy had no effect.