Definition of Palate

1. Noun. The upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities.

Exact synonyms: Roof Of The Mouth
Group relationships: Mouth, Oral Cavity, Oral Fissure, Rima Oris
Terms within: Gustatory Organ, Taste Bud, Tastebud, Soft Palate, Velum, Hard Palate
Generic synonyms: Surface
Derivative terms: Palatal

Definition of Palate

1. n. The roof of the mouth.

2. v. t. To perceive by the taste.

Definition of Palate

1. Noun. (Anatomy) The roof of the mouth; the uraniscus. ¹

2. Noun. The sense of taste. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Palate

1. the roof of the mouth [n -S]

Medical Definition of Palate

1. 1. The roof of the mouth. The fixed portion, or palate proper, supported by the maxillary and palatine bones, is called the hard palate to distinguish it from the membranous and muscular curtain which separates the cavity of the mouth from the pharynx and is called the soft palate, or velum. 2. Relish; taste; liking; a sense originating in the mistaken notion that the palate is the organ of taste. "Hard task! to hit the palate of such guests." (Pope) 3. Mental relish; intellectual taste. 4. A projection in the throat of such flowers as the snapdragon. Origin: L. Palatum: cf. F. Palais, Of. Also palat. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Palate

palatal shelf
palatal triangle
palatalisation
palatalise
palatalised
palatalises
palatalising
palatalization
palatalizations
palatalize
palatalized
palatalizes
palatalizing
palatally
palatals
palate (current term)
palate expander
palate hook
palate myograph
palated
palates
palatial
palatially
palatialness
palatialnesses
palatic
palatics
palatiform
palatinase
palatinates

Literary usage of Palate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical by Henry Gray (1901)
"palate bone in situ. mation of three cavities : the floor and outer wall of the nose, ... In form the palate bone somewhat resembles the letter L, ..."

2. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"palate, the roof and the superior aspect of the mouth or oral cavity toward its ... Anatomists are accustomed to speak of the hard and the soft palate. ..."

3. The Lancet (1898)
"But as a matter of fact the very front of the hard palate is not developed from the inward-growing maxillary processes but from a column of mesoblastic ..."

4. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1868)
"10 ; cleft of the soft palate ; cleft of hard palate to the alveolar process. ... 19 ; cleft through soft palate, and left side of hard palate and alveolar ..."

5. Quain's Elements of Anatomy by Jones Quain, William Sharpey, Allen Thomson, John G. Cleland (1867)
"THK palate. The roof of the mouth is formed by the palate, which consists of two portions ; the fore part being named the hard palate, and the back part, ..."

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