palatable

Etymology

It is formed from English palate + -able.^[2][3][4][5] The OED takes the base as the verb palate, to taste or relish (from 1609, in Shakespeare),^[6] itself from the noun palate,^[6] which is from Old French palat and directly Latin palātum (“roof of the mouth”),^[2][6] a word of unknown origin.^[6] Klein, as cited by Etymonline, suggests an Etruscan origin, and the OED mentions Etruscan falandum (“sky”);^[2][6] de Vaan suggests an Indo-European root meaning "flat, broad".^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pleasant or acceptable to the taste, of food, drink or medicine: 1619, in Thomas Adams's The Happiness of the Church, according to the OED's 2005 revision.^[6] Merriam-Webster dates the first use to 1662^[3] and Etymonline to the 1660s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The palate was popularly considered the seat of taste, and the noun palate meant "sense of taste" from the late 14th century,^[2] so palatable meant what is good to taste.^[2][6] The figurative sense, agreeable to the mind or feelings, acceptable, is recorded from 1683, in a translation of Erasmus;^[6][2] Johnson (1755) defined the word only as "pleasing to the taste", but quoted Addison on devices "to render this bitter potion palatable", of advice.^[7]

Timeline

• 1619 – pleasant to the taste.^[6]
• 1683 – figurative, agreeable to the mind, acceptable.^[6][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pleasant or acceptable to the taste: The soup was barely palatable.^[8][3][6]
2. Acceptable or agreeable to the mind; satisfactory: They looked for a more palatable compromise.^[8][3][6]

Word family

• palatability
• palatably
• palatableness
• nonpalatable

Related words

• palate
• unpalatable

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins