| palate, soft | The muscular part of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is directly behind the hard palate. It lacks bone and so is soft. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| soft palate | The muscular part of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is directly behind the hard palate. It lacks bone and so is soft. (12 Dec 1998) |
| tensor muscle of soft palate | <anatomy> Tensor muscle of soft palate, musculus tensor palati; musculus palatosalpingeus; musculus sphenosalpingostaphylinus; dilator tubae; origin, scaphoid fossa of sphenoid, cartilaginous and membranous part of auditory (eustachian) tube and spine of sphenoid; insertion, posterior border of hard palate and aponeurosis of soft palate; action, tenses the soft palate; contributes to opening of auditory tube; nerve supply, branches of trigeminal nerve through the otic ganglion. Synonym: musculus tensor veli palatini, dilator tubae, musculus palatosalpingeus, musculus sphenosalpingostaphylinus, musculus tensor palati, palatosalpingeus, tensor muscle of soft palate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| elevator muscle of soft palate | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, apex of petrous portion of temporal bone and lower part of cartilaginous auditory (eustachian) tube; insertion, aponeurosis of soft palate; action, raises soft palate; through the expansion of its fleshy belly during contraction, it helps to "push" open the auditory tube; nerve supply, pharyngeal plexus (cranial root of accessory nerve). Synonym: musculus levator veli palatini, elevator muscle of soft palate, levator palati muscle, musculus levator palati, musculus petrostaphylinus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arch of the palate | The vaulted roof of the mouth. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bony palate | A concave elliptical bony plate, constituting the roof of the oral cavity, formed of the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of the palatine bone on either side. Synonym: palatum osseum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Byzantine arch palate | Incomplete fusion of the palatal process with the nasal spine. (05 Mar 2000) |
| palate | 1. <anatomy> The roof of the mouth. The fixed portion, or palate proper, supported by the maxillary and palatine bones, is called the hard palate to distinguish it from the membranous and muscular curtain which separates the cavity of the mouth from the pharynx and is called the soft palate, or velum. 2. Relish; taste; liking; a sense originating in the mistaken notion that the palate is the organ of taste. "Hard task! to hit the palate of such guests." (Pope) 3. Mental relish; intellectual taste. 4. <botany> A projection in the throat of such flowers as the snapdragon. Origin: L. Palatum: cf. F. Palais, Of. Also palat. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| palate, cleft | An opening in the roof of the mouth, due to a failure of the palatal shelves to come fully together from either side of the mouth and fuse during embryonic development. (12 Dec 1998) |
| palate, hard | The bony part of the roof of the mouth. The hard palate is just in front of the soft palate. (12 Dec 1998) |
| palate hook | An instrument for pulling forward the soft palate in order to facilitate posterior rhinoscopy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| palate myograph | Synonym: palatograph. (05 Mar 2000) |
| pendulous palate | A conical projection from the posterior edge of the middle of the soft palate, composed of connective tissue containing a number of racemose glands, and some muscular fibres (uvulae muscle). Synonym: uvula palatina, pendulous palate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Gothic palate | An abnormally highly arched palate. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cleft palate | <embryology, paediatrics> A congenital fissure in the roof of the mouth forming a communication between the nasal passages and the oral cavity. (13 Nov 1997) |