Palate, Palette and Pallet Are Three Different Words
The palate is the roof of the mouth. Its two homophones are an artist's board and a load-carrying platform.
The palate is the roof of the mouth, and by extension the sense of taste. Two homophones cause constant trouble: a *palette* is an artist's board of colours, and a *pallet* is a wooden platform for moving goods, or a straw mattress. Three spellings, three unrelated meanings, one pronunciation.
- The roof of the mouth. *The soft palate.*
- The sense of taste. *A refined palate.*
- Palette — an artist's board. *A limited palette.*
- Pallet — a load platform. *A wooden pallet.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | palate | A sensitive palate. |
| Adjective | palatable | A palatable option. |
| Homophone | palette | A painter's palette. |
| Homophone | pallet | A shipping pallet. |
| Related | palatal | A palatal consonant. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The soft palate is at the back.The hard palate at the front.
- A limited colour palette.Art and design.
- Goods arrive on pallets.Logistics.
The three words
- Palate — the roof of the mouth, from Latin *palatum*
- Palette — an artist's board, from French for a small spade
- Pallet — a platform or straw bed, from French for straw
- Palatable — acceptable to the taste
- Cleft palate — a congenital opening in the roof of the mouth
From Latin *palatum*, the roof of the mouth. *Palette* comes from French *pale*, a spade, and *pallet* from *paille*, straw.
Palate, palette or pallet?
Palate is the mouth, palette the artist's board, pallet the platform. All three sound identical and none are related.
Does taste happen in the palate?
Not mainly. Taste receptors are on the tongue and elsewhere in the mouth, and most of what we call flavour is smell.