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:
suhlyvuhSay the bold part a little louder.
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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
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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to saliva.
A duct through which saliva passes from the salivary gland into the mouth.
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.
