Editing Palate (section)

===Etymology===
The [[History of the English language|English]] [[synonyms]] palate and palatum, and also the related adjective palatine (as in [[palatine bone]]), are all from the [[Latin]] ''palatum'' via [[Old French]] ''palat'', words that like their English [[Derivative (linguistics)|derivatives]], refer to the "roof" of the mouth.<ref name=etym-palate>{{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 language|Etruscan]] origin. Popularly considered the seat of taste, hence transferred meaning 'sense of taste' (1520s).}}</ref>

The Latin word ''palatum'' is of unknown (possibly [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]]) ultimate origin and served also as a source to the Latin word meaning palace, ''[[palatium]]'', from which other senses of [[Palatine (disambiguation)|palatine]] and the English word palace derive, and not the other way round.<ref name=etym-palatine>{{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 [[Middle French|M.Fr.]] palatin (15c.), from [[Medieval Latin|M.L.]] palatinus 'of the palace' (of the [[Caesar (title)|Caesars]]), from L. palatium (see palace). Used in English to mean '[[Palatine|quasi-royal authority]].' Reference to the [[Palatinate (disambiguation)#Germany|Rhineland state]] is from c.1580.}}</ref>

As the roof of the mouth was once considered the seat of the sense of [[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 [[oak (wine)|oaky]] palate.