# Palate
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{{Short description|Roof of the mouth}}
{{Distinguish|palette (disambiguation){{!}}palette|pallet (disambiguation){{!}}pallet|pellet (disambiguation){{!}}pellet}}
{{For|the restaurant|Palate (restaurant)}}
{{Redirect|Palatal|the phonetics article|Palatal consonant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox anatomy
| Name = Palate
| Latin = palatum
| Image = Illu01 head neck.jpg
| Caption = Head and neck.
| Width =
| Image2 = 06-06-06palataltori.jpg
| Caption2 = Palate exhibiting [torus palatinus](/source/torus_palatinus)
| Precursor =
| System =
| Artery =
| Vein =
| Nerve =
| Lymph =
}}
The '''palate''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|l|ᵻ|t}}) is the roof of the [mouth](/source/mouth) in humans and other [mammal](/source/mammal)s. It separates the [oral cavity](/source/oral_cavity) from the [nasal cavity](/source/nasal_cavity).[
{{cite book
| last = Wingerd
| first = Bruce D.
| title = The Human Body Concepts of Anatomy and Physiology
| publisher = Saunders College Publishing
| year = 1811
| location = Fort Worth
| pages = 166
| isbn = 0-03-055507-8}}] A similar structure is found in [crocodilian](/source/crocodilian)s, but in most other [tetrapod](/source/tetrapod)s, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separated. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior, bony [hard palate](/source/hard_palate) and the posterior, fleshy [soft palate](/source/soft_palate) (or velum).[{{cite book
| last = Wingerd
| first = Bruce D.
| title = The Human Body Concepts of Anatomy and Physiology
| publisher = Saunders College Publishing
| year = 1994
| location = Fort Worth
| pages = 478
| isbn = 0-03-055507-8}}][
{{cite book
| last = Goss
| first = Charles Mayo
| title = Gray's Anatomy
| publisher = Lea & Febiger
| year = 1966
| location = Philadelphia
| pages = 1172
}}]
==Structure==
{{See also|Hard palate|Soft palate}}
===Innervation===
The [maxillary nerve](/source/maxillary_nerve) branch of the [trigeminal nerve](/source/trigeminal_nerve) supplies [sensory innervation](/source/sensory_innervation) to the palate.
===Development===
The hard palate forms before birth.
===Variation===
{{See also|Cleft palate}}
{{See also|Torus palatinus}}
{{See also|High-arched palate}}
If the fusion is incomplete, a [cleft palate](/source/cleft_palate) results.
==Function in humans==
When functioning in conjunction with other parts of the mouth, the palate produces certain sounds, particularly [velar](/source/velar_consonant), [palatal](/source/palatal_consonant), [palatalized](/source/Palatalization_(phonetics)), [postalveolar](/source/postalveolar_consonant), [alveolopalatal](/source/alveolo-palatal_consonant), and [uvular](/source/uvular_consonant) [consonant](/source/consonant)s.[
{{cite book
| last = Goss
| first = Charles Mayo
| title = Gray's Anatomy
| publisher = Lea & Febiger
| year = 1966
| location = Philadelphia
| pages = 1201
}}]
== Evolution ==
Early [synapsids](/source/Synapsida) lacked the [secondary palate](/source/secondary_palate) separating the mouth and nasal cavities, with this feature evolving in [cynodonts](/source/Cynodontia) and retained by mammals.[{{Cite journal |last=Norton |first=Luke A. |last2=Abdala |first2=Fernando |last3=Benoit |first3=Julien |date=2023-07-03 |title=Craniodental anatomy in Permian–Jurassic Cynodontia and Mammaliaformes (Synapsida, Therapsida) as a gateway to defining mammalian soft tissue and behavioural traits |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article/378/1880/20220084/109200/Craniodental-anatomy-in-Permian-Jurassic |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B |language=en |volume=378 |issue=1880 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2022.0084 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=10184251 |pmid=37183903}}] Ancestrally in [tetrapods](/source/Tetrapod), the roof of the mouth has patches of teeth ([palatal dentition](/source/palatal_dentition)). These teeth are retained in living [lepidosaurian](/source/Lepidosauria) reptiles and [modern amphibians](/source/Lissamphibia) and were present in early synapsids and [therapsids](/source/Therapsida), but were lost in cynodonts and their mammalian descendants.[{{Cite journal |last=Matsumoto|first=Ryoko|last2=Evans|first2=Susan E.|date=January 2017|title=The palatal dentition of tetrapods and its functional significance|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.12534|journal=Journal of Anatomy|language=en|volume=230|issue=1|pages=47–65|doi=10.1111/joa.12534|issn=0021-8782|pmc=5192890|pmid=27542892}}]
==History==
===Etymology===
The [English](/source/History_of_the_English_language) [synonyms](/source/synonyms) palate and palatum, and also the related adjective palatine (as in [palatine bone](/source/palatine_bone)), are all from the [Latin](/source/Latin) ''palatum'' via [Old French](/source/Old_French) ''palat'', words that like their English [derivatives](/source/Derivative_(linguistics)), refer to the "roof" of the mouth.[{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|title=palate (the entry for)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=palate&searchmode=none|work=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=10 September 2011|quote=palate – late 14c., 'roof of the mouth,' from O.Fr. palat, from L. palatum 'roof of the mouth,' perhaps of [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_language) origin. Popularly considered the seat of taste, hence transferred meaning 'sense of taste' (1520s).}}]
The Latin word ''palatum'' is of unknown (possibly [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_language)) ultimate origin and served also as a source to the Latin word meaning palace, ''[palatium](/source/palatium)'', from which other senses of [palatine](/source/Palatine_(disambiguation)) and the English word palace derive, and not the other way round.[{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|title=palatine (the entry for)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=palatine&searchmode=none|work=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=10 September 2011|quote=palatine (adj.) – mid-15c., from [M.Fr.](/source/Middle_French) palatin (15c.), from [M.L.](/source/Medieval_Latin) palatinus 'of the palace' (of the [Caesars](/source/Caesar_(title))), from L. palatium (see palace). Used in English to mean '[quasi-royal authority](/source/Palatine).' Reference to the [Rhineland state](/source/Palatinate_(disambiguation)) is from c.1580.}}]
As the roof of the mouth was once considered the seat of the sense of [taste](/source/taste), palate can also refer to this sense itself, as in the phrase "a discriminating palate". By further extension, the flavor of a food (particularly beer or wine) may be called its palate, as when a wine is said to have an [oaky](/source/oak_(wine)) palate.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
==See also==
{{Anatomy-terms}}
*[Language](/source/Language)
*[Vocal tract](/source/Vocal_tract)
*[Pallet](/source/Pallet), [palette](/source/Palette_(disambiguation)) and [pellet](/source/pellet_(disambiguation)), objects whose names are homophonous with ''palate'' for many English-speakers
*[Palatability](/source/Palatability)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book
| last = Saladin
| first = Kenneth
| title = Anatomy and Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function
| publisher = McGraw Hill
| year = 2010
| location = New York
| pages = 256
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Thompson
| first = Gale
| title = World of Anatomy and Physiology
| publisher = Thompson Corporation
| date = 2005–2006
| pages = Palate (Hard and Soft Palate)
}}
{{Mouth anatomy}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Palate
Category:Otorhinolaryngology
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Palate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palate) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palate?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.