palate

palate

English

Etymology

Middle English palate, from Latin palātum (“roof of the mouth, palate”), perhaps of Etruscan origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæl.ət/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælət

Noun

palate (plural palates)

1. (anatomy) The roof of the mouth, separating the cavities of the mouth and nose in vertebrates. [from 14th c.]

   Synonym: uraniscus

   Hyponyms: hard palate, soft palate

   1. (zoology) A part associated with the mouth of certain invertebrates, somewhat analagous to the palate of vertebrates. [from 20th c.]
   2. (entomology, rare) The hypopharynx of an insect. [from 19th c.]
   3. (botany) A projection in the throat of certain bilabiate flowers as the snapdragon. [from 18th c.]
   4. (cooking, historical) The palate of an animal, as an item of food. [from 17th c.]
      • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, Oxford, page 332:

        I remember, when he was in Scotland, his praising ‘Gordon's palates’ (a dish of palates at the Honourable Alexander Gordon's) with a warmth of expression which might have done for honour to more important subjects.

2. (figuratively) A person's ability to distinguish between and appreciate different flavors. [from 14th c.]
   • 1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley [et al.]:

3. (figuratively) Mental relish; a liking or affinity for something. [from 15th c.]
   • 1656, Thomas Baker, he Wicked Mans Plot Defeated

     entertain the palates of Nobles

4. Taste or flavour, especially with reference to wine or other alcoholic drinks. [from 20th c.]

Derived terms

• palatal (adjective)

Related terms

• palatine (adjective)

Translations

roof of the mouth

Albanian: qiellzë (sq) f Arabic: حَنَك‎ m (ḥanak) Egyptian Arabic: سقف حلق‎ m (saʾf ḥalʾ), حنك‎ m (ḥának) Armenian: քիմք (hy) (kʿimkʿ) Basque: ahosabai Belarusian: паднябе́нне n (padnjabjénnje), нёба n (njóba) Bikol Central: ngaragngag (bcl) Brunei Malay: langit-langit Bulgarian: небце n (nebce) Catalan: paladar (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 上顎／上颚 (zh) (shàng'è), 口蓋／口盖 (zh) (kǒugài), 齶／腭 (zh) (è) Cornish: stevnik f Crimean Tatar: tañlay Czech: patro (cs) n Dutch: gehemelte (nl) n, verhemelte (nl) n Erzya: кургоменель (kurgomenelʹ) Esperanto: palato (eo) Finnish: suulaki (fi), kitalaki (fi) French: palais (fr) m, (de la bouche, au sens du goût) Galician: teito da boca m, ceo da boca m, padal (gl) m Georgian: სასა (sasa) German: Gaumen (de) m Greek: ουρανίσκος (el) m (ouranískos) Ancient: οὐρανίσκος m (ouranískos), ὑπερῴα f (huperṓia) Hebrew: חֵךְ‎ (he) m (khékh) Hungarian: szájpadlás (hu) Icelandic: gómur m Irish: carball m Italian: palato (it) m Japanese: 口蓋 (ja) (こうがい, kōgai), 上顎 (じょうがく, jōgaku) Kapampangan: alangalang, telabanwa Khmer: ពិតានមាត់ (pidaan moat) Korean: 입천장 (ko) (ipcheonjang), 구개 (ko) (gugae) Latin: palātum n Lithuanian: gomurys m Luxembourgish: Gumm m Macedonian: не́пце n (népce) Maguindanao: pelag Malay: lelangit (ms) Manx: cleea veal f Maori: pikiarero Maranao: pelak Mopan Maya: ka'an u chi', yok'olil u chi' Navajo: azahatʼágí Norman: palais m Old English: gōma m Ottoman Turkish: طاماق‎ (damak) Persian: کام‎ (fa) (kâm) Plautdietsch: Mulbän m Polish: podniebienie (pl) n Portuguese: palato (pt) m, céu da boca (pt) m Romanian: palat (ro) n, cerul gurii n Russian: нёбо (ru) n (njóbo) Scottish Gaelic: bràigh-beòil m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: непце n Roman: nepce (sh) n Slovak: podnebie n Slovene: nebó (sl) n Southern Altai: таҥдай (taŋday) Spanish: paladar (es) m Swahili: kaakaa (sw) Swedish: gom (sv) c Tagalog: ngalangala, asngal Tibetan: དཀན (dkan) Turkish: damak (tr) Ukrainian: піднебі́ння n (pidnebínnja), не́бо (uk) n (nébo) Vietnamese: vòm miệng (vi) Volapük: palat (vo) Welsh: taflod y genau f, taflod f West Frisian: ferwulft, ferwulf

ability to distinguish between and appreciate different flavors

Bulgarian: вкус (bg) m (vkus) Finnish: makuaisti (fi) Portuguese: paladar (pt) Russian: вкус (ru) m (vkus) Spanish: paladar (es) m

figuratively: relish; taste; liking

Bulgarian: интерес (bg) m (interes) Finnish: maku (fi) Hungarian: gusztus (hu) Russian: вкус (ru) m (vkus), смак (ru) m (smak)

Verb

palate (third-person singular simple present palates, present participle palating, simple past and past participle palated)

1. (transitive, nonstandard) To relish; to find palatable.

   Synonym: stomach

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Not palating the taste of her dishonour

   • 2013 October 10, Adam Mann, “Number Crunching Shows Old Movies Are More Creative Than New Ones”, in WIRED‎:

     "If it’s way out there, it’s hard to palate," said Sreenivasan.

Derived terms

• palatable (adjective)

References

• “palate”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “palate”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Anagrams

• Platea, leap at, paleta, patela, petala

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Italian

Noun

palate f

1. plural of palata

Verb

palate

1. inflection of palare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Participle

palate f pl

1. feminine plural of palato

Anagrams

• pelata, platea

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Latin

Verb

pālāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of pālō

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• palet, palat, palette, palete

Etymology

From Old French palat, from Latin palātum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpalat/, /ˈpalət/

Noun

palate

1. The palate; the top of the mouth (including the uvula).
2. One's sense of taste (the palate was believed to be the source of this).

Descendants

• English: palate

References

• “palat(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

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Romanian

Noun

palate n pl

1. plural of palat