palate

American  

[pal-it] / ˈpæl ɪt /

noun

• palates
  plural

1. Anatomy. the roof of the mouth, consisting of an anterior bony portion hard palate and a posterior muscular portion soft palate, or velum that separate the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.

2. the sense of taste.

   It was a dinner to delight the palate.

3. intellectual or aesthetic taste; mental appreciation.

   She is said to have a discriminating palate for the arts.

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verb (used with object)

1. to find pleasing to the taste.

   My friend was very ill and could not palate much of anything.

2. to find acceptable or agreeable to the mind or feelings.

   Your position is hard to palate, because I believe there is such a thing as objective morality.

palate British  

/ ˈpælɪt /

noun

1. the roof of the mouth, separating the oral and nasal cavities See hard palate soft palate

2. the sense of taste

   she had no palate for the wine

3. relish or enjoyment

4. botany (in some two-lipped corollas) the projecting part of the lower lip that closes the opening of the corolla

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palate Scientific  

/ păl′ĭt /

1. The roof of the mouth in vertebrate animals, separating the mouth from the passages of the nose.

2. ◆ The bony part of the palate is called the hard palate.

3. ◆ A soft, flexible, rear portion of the palate, called the soft palate, is present in mammals only and serves to close off the mouth from the nose during swallowing.

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palate Cultural  

1. The roof of the mouth. The palate separates the mouth from the nasal cavity.

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Usage

What’s the difference between palate, palette, and pallet? The word palate refers to the roof of the mouth. More figuratively, palate can refer to a person’s particular sense of taste (as in the way they perceive flavors), or to a person’s general, intellectual taste (as in their specific preferences for things). A palette is that board that painters keep their paints on while painting (most traditionally, an oval one with a thumbhole for holding). The word pallet most commonly refers to a flat, square (often wood) platform used to hold goods for shipping (it’s sometimes called a skid). All three of these words are pronounced exactly the same, and they’re always used as nouns. The word palette is closely associated with art and color. It can also refer to a collection or range of colors or techniques. For example, the term color palette refers to a specific set of colors, such as the ones that a particular artist typically works with. The word pallet can sometimes be used to refer to a painter’s palette, but this spelling is much less commonly used. So how to keep all three spellings straight?A palette is the thing a painter always keeps on hand—literally—while painting. In this way, you can think of a painter’s palette (which is spelled with one L) as a painter’s pal. A pallet (ending in -let) is the platform that lets shippers easily transport goods. Think of palate (ending in -ate) as a word related to what you ate. Here’s an example of palate, palette, and pallet used correctly in a sentence. Example: The art installation consists of wooden pallets painted in a vibrant palette of colors—it’s interesting, but it’s not quite suited to my palate. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between palate, palette, and pallet.

Commonly Confused

See palette pallet 1

Discover More

It is sometimes said that a person has a “cultivated palate” if he or she has a discerning taste for food.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• palateless
  adjective
• palatelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• palates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of palate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English palat, from Latin palātum “roof of the mouth”

Explanation

Touch your tongue to the top of your mouth. What you're touching is your palate. Palate is often used when discussing taste in a broader sense, as in: chocolate cake is pleasing to the palate. A person with an expensive palate likes only high-priced culinary treats. Someone who tastes slight nuances in food is said to have a well-developed palate, and someone who likes only fancy food is said to have a sophisticated palate. In reality, most taste receptors are on the tongue. But that doesn't sound sophisticated at all, does it?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

palate palates

Her daughter was born early with a cleft palate, facial symptoms of sodium valproate syndrome as well as ADHD.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Vibrant and intense, but light on the palate, with complex flavors and aromas of purple flowers, dried herbs, baking spices, raspberry and cranberry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Tasting notes: Creamy and rich throughout, it has great minerality in the mid-to-back palate and a touch of salinity on the finish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

It's a charming palate cleanser after the familial drama of the album's final third.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

“His palate is sweet, and he is altogether desirable; this is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Estrada-Londo, who is from the Philippines, takes inspiration from Asian desserts, which tend to play with flavors that can be surprising to Western palates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

“The home is very taste-specific, which may not be helping the property as buyers are drawn to more neutral palates that are transitional vs. taste-specific,” she says.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026

Others also cited more prosaic changes, like restaurant menus in English, or milder hot sauces at the taco stands to cater for sensitive foreign palates.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025

And while Ulmer says “Elementa” is family friendly, as he believes children with adventurous food palates will enjoy the show, he’s also looking forward to Saturday matinee programming geared specifically for families with young kids.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025

You see her hand-drawn illustrations of the human mouth, the tongue, the upper and lower palates, the uvula.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

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