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Palatine tonsil: anatomy, location and function

The palatine tonsils are the two masses of lymphoid tissue at the back of the mouth, one on each side of the oropharynx. They are what most people mean by the tonsils. They form the lateral part of Waldeyer's ring, a ring of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue around the upper throat made up of the pharyngeal tonsil, the two tubal tonsils, the two palatine tonsils and the lingual tonsil.

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Highlighted in the model: Palatine tonsil. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The default body is an adult male.

Palatine tonsil at a glance

Also called
Tonsil
What it is
The palatine tonsils are the two masses of lymphoid tissue at the back of the mouth, one on each side of the oropharynx. They are what most people mean by the tonsils.
Location
Each lies in the tonsillar bed of the side wall of the oropharynx, between the palatoglossal arch in front and the palatopharyngeal arch behind. A fibrous capsule on its outer surface is separated from the superior constrictor muscle by loose connective tissue.
Function
They form the lateral part of Waldeyer's ring, a ring of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue around the upper throat made up of the pharyngeal tonsil, the two tubal tonsils, the two palatine tonsils and the lingual tonsil.
Body system
Lymphatic · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA9610 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Their main artery is the tonsillar branch of the facial artery, which pierces the superior constrictor to reach them.
  • They drain to the jugulodigastric and upper deep cervical lymph nodes.
  • Their sensory nerves come from the maxillary and glossopharyngeal nerves.
  • They are covered by stratified non-keratinised squamous epithelium.

Clinical relevance

Tonsillitis is usually viral, with bacteria causing about one third of cases. A peritonsillar abscess (quinsy) is a collection of pus beside the tonsil that complicates bacterial tonsillitis and always needs drainage.

Structures next to the palatine tonsil

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Palatine tonsil (FMA9610). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. TeachMeAnatomy. The Tonsils and Adenoids.
  3. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §21.1 Anatomy of the Lymphatic and Immune Systems. Rice University, 2022.
  4. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  5. Browne K., Schlehlein H. (2026). 3D Reference Organ Set for Male, v1.10 (Visible Human Male). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.