Palps

Part of speech: noun, plural

Definitions

1. A pair of sensory appendages found on the heads of certain invertebrates, often used for sensing the environment
2. These structures can be involved in feeding or locomotion in various species
3. Functioning as tactile and chemosensory organs, they can detect changes in the surroundings and help in interaction with their habitat

Etymology: "Palps" is the plural of "palp," and the sensory feelers of insects trace their name to a Latin verb meaning to touch gently. The noun comes from New Latin "palpus," a feeler, which was built on Latin "palpare" ("to stroke, touch softly, feel"). The same root gave English the verb "palpate," to examine by touch, and the verb "palp" itself came into use through French "palper," meaning to feel or touch. The insect sense is a scientific reuse of an old everyday idea. Entomologists and naturalists working in New Latin needed a precise term for the jointed, touch-sensitive appendages near an insect's mouth, and they reached back to the Latin verb for stroking and feeling. The word therefore describes a function, not a shape: these structures are, quite literally, the insect's organs of touch.

Synonyms: palpi, feelers, tentacles, appendages