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saliva

noun

Simple meaning

A clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

suhlyvuh

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

səˈlaɪvə

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. physiology

    A clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches

  2. An indigenous language of Eastern Colombia and Venezuela.

Word at a Glance

Frequency
Uncommon

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

human salivaparotid salivawhole saliva

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • salivaryadjectiveRelated term

    Of or relating to saliva.

  • salivary ductnounRelated term

    A duct through which saliva passes from the salivary gland into the mouth.

  • salivary glandnounRelated term

    Any of three pairs of glands in the mouth and digestive system that secrete saliva for digestion.

  • A small salivary gland that produces mucin (the viscous component of saliva).

  • A salivary gland inside the lower jaw on either side that produces most of the nocturnal saliva.

  • A salivary gland inside the lower jaw on either side that produces most of the nocturnal saliva.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.