palatine

adj 1: relating to or lying near the palate; "palatal index"; "the

palatine tonsils" [syn: {palatal}]

2: of or relating to a count palatine and his royal

prerogatives

3: of or relating to a palace

n 1: any of various important officials in ancient Rome

2: (medieval) the lord of a palatinate who exercised sovereign

powers over his lands [syn: {palsgrave}]

3: the most important of the Seven Hills of ancient Rome;

supposedly the location of the first settlement and the

site of many imperial palaces [syn: {Palatine}]

4: either of two irregularly shaped bones that form the back of

the hard palate and helps to form the nasal cavity and the

floor of the orbits [syn: {palatine bone}, {os palatinum}]