velar

[ vee-ler ]

/ ˈvi lər /

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adjective

of or relating to a velum, especially the soft palate.

Phonetics. articulated with the back of the tongue held close to or touching the soft palate.

noun

Phonetics. a velar sound.

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Origin of velar

From the Latin word vēlāris, dating back to 1720–30. See velum, -ar¹

OTHER WORDS FROM velar

post·ve·lar, adjectivepseu·do·ve·lar, adjective

Words nearby velar

veiny, Veiovis, vel., vela, velamen, velar, velaric airstream, velarium, velarize, velarized, Velasco Ibarra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use velar in a sentence

Also called velar (from velum, for which see § 8) and more usually, but less accurately, guttural.
The Sounds of Spoken English|Walter Rippmann
The metastoma, which has become in Ammocœtes the lower lip supplied by the velar or mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve ; 2.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
What, then, are these velar folds, and how is it that the tubular muscles of these two segments become the velar muscles?
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
This is that part of the velar folds which comes together in the middle line and closes the entrance into the respiratory chamber.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell

The velar or mandibular nerve supplies in Ammocœtes the muscles of the lower lip.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell

British Dictionary definitions for velar

velar

/ (ˈviːlə) /

adjective

of, relating to, or attached to a velumvelar tentacles

phonetics articulated with the soft palate and the back of the tongue, as in the sounds (k), (ɡ), or (ŋ)

Word Origin for velar

C18: from Latin vēlāris, from vēlum veil

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012