verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To pronounce a sound with the tongue against the palate of the mouth when that sound normally would not be so pronounced. transitive

   "Most English speakers palatalize the letter t in the word "nature"."

2. 2
   pronounce a consonant with the tongue against the palate wordnet
3. 3
   To be pronounced with the tongue against the palate. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

palatalisepalatize

Antonyms

All antonyms

depalatalizelabialize

Example

More examples

"Most English speakers palatalize the letter t in the word "nature"."

Etymology

From palatal + -ize.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.