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The word for today is…
placebo (noun):
1a : a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder
b : an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (such as a drug)
2 : something tending to soothe
Source : Online Etymology Dictionary
Etymology : Dates from the early 13th century, name given to the rite of Vespers of the Office of the Dead, so called from the opening of the first antiphon, “I will please the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalms cxvi.9, in Vulgate Placebo Domino in regione vivorum). Originally from Latin placebo ‘shall please’ and is future indicative of ‘placere’ to please. Medical sense is recorded by 1785, ‘a medicine given more to please than to benefit the patient.’ Placebo effect is attested from 1900.
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