Word Study
saliva
CIDE DICTIONARY
saliva, n. [L.; cf. Gr. .].
The secretion from the salivary glands. [1913 Webster]
" In man the saliva is a more or less turbid and slighty viscid fluid, generally of an alkaline reaction, and is secreted by the parotid, submaxillary, and sublingual glands. In the mouth the saliva is mixed with the secretion from the buccal glands. The secretions from the individual salivary glands have their own special characteristics, and these are not the same in all animals. In man and many animals mixed saliva, i.e., saliva composed of the secretions of all three of the salivary glands, is an important digestive fluid on account of the presence of the peculiar enzyme, ptyalin." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
saliva, n. liquid secreted into the mouth by glands to provide moisture and facilitate chewing and swallowing.
Idiom
saliva test a scientific test requiring a saliva sample.
Derivative
salivary adj.
Etymology
ME f. L
THESAURUS
saliva
absorption, assimilation, bile, chyle, colostrum, digestion, digestive system, discharge, dribble, drivel, drool, expectoration, foam, froth, gastric juice, gastrointestinal tract, gleet, humor, ichor, ingestion, intestinal juice, lachryma, lactation, leukorrhea, liver, lymph, matter, milk, mouth-watering, mucor, mucus, pancreas, pancreatic digestion, pancreatic juice, peccant humor, phlegm, predigestion, ptyalism, purulence, pus, rheum, salivary digestion, salivary glands, salivation, sanies, secondary digestion, serous fluid, serum, sialagogue, slabber, slaver, slobber, snot, spit, spittle, sputum, suppuration, sweat, tear, teardrop, the whites, urine, waterROGET THESAURUS
saliva
Excretion
N excretion, discharge, emanation, exhalation, exudation, extrusion, secretion, effusion, extravasation, ecchymosis, evacuation, dejection, faeces, excrement, shit, stools, crap, bloody flux, cacation, coeliac-flux, coeliac- passion, dysentery, perspiration, sweat, subation, exudation, diaphoresis, sewage, eccrinology, saliva, spittle, rheum, ptyalism, salivation, catarrh, diarrhoea, ejecta, egesta, sputa, excreta, lava, exuviae, hemorrhage, bleeding, outpouring.Lubrication
N lubrication, smoothness, unctuousness, lubrication, lubrification, anointment, oiling, synovia, glycerine, oil, lubricating oil, grease, saliva, lather, teflon, lubricated, lubricous.For further exploring for "saliva" in Webster Dictionary Online