Salivation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌsælɪˈveɪʃən/

Definitions

1. The process of producing saliva in the oral cavity occurs when stimulated by food or other triggers, aiding in digestion and taste perception
2. Saliva production is a physiological response to various stimuli that plays a crucial role in digestion and the sensation of taste
3. The act or process of secreting saliva in the mouth, often in response to food or stimuli

Etymology: Salivation is a plain borrowing: English took the noun directly from Latin "salīvātiō", a derivative of "salīvāre", "to produce saliva", which itself comes from "salīva", the Latin word for spittle. The Latin verb is the source of the English verb "salivate", and the noun carries the same core sense it had in Latin, the making of spit. The word is a good example of how medical and physiological vocabulary often came into English through Latin without changing much along the way. Its meaning has stayed remarkably stable: it describes the process itself rather than any figurative extension, so there is no earlier sense to recover. What you see in the dictionary is essentially what the Romans would have recognised.

Synonyms: spit, saliva production