Did You Know?
"Palatable" comes from "palate," a Latin-derived word for the roof of the mouth. The palate was once thought of as the seat of the sense of taste, so the word eventually came to mean "sense of taste," or broadly, "liking." "Palatable" has been used in English to refer to palate-pleasing foods since 1664, but it isn't our only -- or our oldest -- adjective for agreeable tastes. "Savory" dates from the 13th century. "Toothsome" has been around since 1551. "Tasty" was first used back in 1603. And "appetizing" has been gracing culinary reviews since 1653.