glossopharyngeal nerve, either of a pair of cranial nerves essential to the sense of taste, sensation in some viscera, and secretion from certain glands. The nerve has both sensory and motor fibers that pass from the tongue, parotid gland, and pharynx; communicate with the vagus nerve; and connect with two areas in the brain. Also called Hering’s nerve, nervus glossopharyngeus, ninth cranial nerve.
