Word of the Day

: January 21, 2009

palatable

adjective PAL-uh-tuh-bul

What It Means

1 : agreeable to the palate or taste

2 : agreeable or acceptable to the mind

palatable in Context

When I asked Griffin for his opinion of the restaurant he said, "The food was bland and unimaginative, but at least the wine was palatable."

Did You Know?

"Palatable" comes from "palate," a Latin-derived word for the roof of the mouth. The palate was once thought of as the seat of the sense of taste, so the word eventually came to mean "sense of taste," or broadly, "liking." "Palatable" has been used in English to refer to palate-pleasing foods since 1664, but it isn't our only -- or our oldest -- adjective for agreeable tastes. "Savory" dates from the 13th century. "Toothsome" has been around since 1551. "Tasty" was first used back in 1603. And "appetizing" has been gracing culinary reviews since 1653.