hard palate

<. Popularly considered the seat of taste, hence transferred meaning "sense of taste" (late 14c.), which also was in classical Latin. Related: Palatal; palatalize.

n.

1. The anterior part of the palate, consisting of the bony palate covered above by the mucous membrane of the nose, and below by the mucoperiosteum of the roof of the mouth.

n.

1. The bony and muscular partition between the oral and nasal cavities; the roof of the mouth.

1. See under palate.

1. The roof of the mouth in vertebrate animals, separating the mouth from the passages of the nose.♦ The bony part of the palate is called the hard palate. ♦ 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.

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