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palate

/ˈpæl.ət/noun, verb

palate is spelled P-A-L-A-T-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “palate vs palette” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, palate means “A part associated with the mouth of certain invertebrates, somewhat analogous to the palate of vertebrates” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of palate is palates.

How many letters and syllables are in palate?

Letters6: P-A-L-A-T-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is palate?

Palate appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce palate?

  • US /ˈpæl.ət/
  • /ˈpɛl.ət/
  • /pəˈleʈ/

Palate has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-palate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with palate

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

palate vs palette2,900 G
palate vs pallet70 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with palate?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as palate from its last stressed vowel (/ælət/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: paleta.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of palate

  • palates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • palating participle, present
  • palated participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does palate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A part associated with the mouth of certain invertebrates, somewhat analogous to the palate of vertebrates.

  2. 2

    rareThe hypopharynx of an insect.

  3. 3

    A projection in the throat of certain bilabiate flowers as the snapdragon.

  4. 4

    The palate of an animal, as an item of food.

  5. 5

    A person's ability to distinguish between and appreciate different flavors.

  6. 6

    Mental relish; a liking or affinity for something.

  7. 7

    Taste or flavour, especially with reference to wine or other alcoholic drinks.

  8. 8

    obsoleteA dainty article of food.

verb

  1. 1

    nonstandardTo relish; to find palatable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Palate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpalais (roof of the mouth)
GermanGaumen (roof of the mouth)
Portuguesepalato, céu da boca (roof of the mouth), paladar (ability to distinguish between and appreciate…)
Spanishpaladar (roof of the mouth)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does palate come from?

From Middle English palate, from Latin palātum (“roof of the mouth, palate”), perhaps of Etruscan origin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after palate