rhizoverbBeta
DictionarypalateSense of taste
noun

palate

PAL-ut/ˈpælət/

The roof of the mouth.

The palate forms a vaulted roof inside the upper dental arch.

A close underside view of an anatomical upper-mouth model, with the pink vaulted roof of the mouth clearly enclosed by the U-shaped upper dental arch.
Etymology
palateLatinroof of the mouth; vault

Latin palatum named the roof of the mouth and also a vault. Because the mouth’s roof was popularly considered the seat of taste, its name also came to mean the sense of taste.

In context

SCP Orientation11:59
scp-478 will enter a victim's mouth while they sleep and attach onto the soft palate in the upper nasal cavity usually blocking one nostril
Airborne SCP Anomalies (SCP Orientation Compilation)

More examples

  • Hot pizza can burn your palate.
  • The dentist checks his palate for sores.
  • The soft palate rises when you swallow.

Forms

palate · palates

palatal adjective — Relating to the roof of the mouth.