palatable

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpælətəbəl/ UK /ˈpæl.ə.tə.bəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #40004

Meanings

1

adj
Pleasant to taste; good to eat.

A pinch of salt made the bland soup far more palatable.
2

adj
Acceptable or agreeable to the mind; easy to accept.

They reworded the report to make the bad news more palatable to investors.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · pleasant to taste; good to... appetizing delicious flavorful tastytoothsome

2 adj · acceptable or agreeable to... acceptable tolerable

Word family

Forms unpalatable

Derived forms hyperpalatableimpalatablenonpalatablepalatablenesspalatably

Related forms palatabilitypalate

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

palatable food
something to eat that tastes pleasant or acceptable

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-? Proto-Indo-European *pel-? Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-osder. Latin palātumder. Old French palatbor. Middle English palate English palate Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English palatable From palate + -able.

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# palatable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpælətəbəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpæl.ə.tə.bəl/
**Frequency rank:** 40004

## Meanings
1. Pleasant to taste; good to eat.
2. Acceptable or agreeable to the mind; easy to accept.

## Examples
- A pinch of salt made the bland soup far more palatable.
- They reworded the report to make the bad news more palatable to investors.

## Derived Forms
- hyperpalatable
- impalatable
- nonpalatable
- palatableness
- palatably

## Related Forms
- palatability
- palate

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-? Proto-Indo-European *pel-? Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-osder. Latin palātumder. Old French palatbor. Middle English palate English palate Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English palatable From palate + -able.

## AI Etymology
Palatable is formed from palate + -able. The historical chain records Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-?, Proto-Indo-European *pel-?, Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-os, Latin palātum, Old French palat, Latin -bilis, Latin -ābilis, Old French -able, Middle English -able, English -able, and English palatable. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. Current senses include pleasant to taste; good to eat and acceptable or agreeable to the mind; easy to accept. The wider family includes derived forms such as hyperpalatable, impalatable, nonpalatable, palatableness, and palatably; related words such as palatability and palate.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown