Discrepancies in the terminology of the major human salivary glands often appear in anatomical textbooks and tend to adversely affect student's learning experience in Microscopic Anatomy. The main culprit is the inconsistent description of the morphology of these glands secretory end pieces where "acinus" and "alveolus" are used interchangeably. The correct terminology originated from Malpighi (1687), repeated by K€ olliker (1854), but over the years has been misinterpreted by prominent authors as a result of the nature of specimen preparation. This commentary is based on etymology, current standard light microscopy, research studies and consultation with experts. The overall objective of this publication is to recommend that textbooks should endeavour to modify the relevant descriptions about this terminology in their future editions. The most appropriate terminology for the major human salivary glands would be: (1) the parotid gland, entirely serous, should be called compound acinar glands; (2) the submandibular glands are mixed glands; their serous components are compound acinar while some of the mucinous areas are tubular with serous, crescents or demilunes, as acinar end pieces hence they should be named compound tubuloacinar glands; (3) the sublingual glands, mainly mucous glands with tubular shape, with small acinar end pieces that are serous crescents thence they should be called compound tubuloacinar glands. Anat Rec, 297:1354Rec, 297: -1363Rec, 297: , 2014. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Key words: histology; human salivary glands; acinus; alveolus; terminology; compound acinar; compound tubuloacinar Footnote 35 in the latest edition of the Terminologia Histologica (FICAT, 2008) indicates that 'in some parts of the world the term acinus and alveolus are used synonymously while in others, the terms are used differently'. This inconsistent terminology in this field of human microscopic anatomy has been found in a variety of old and recent textbooks, reference books, medical dictionaries, some histology and histopathology internet sites. One of the reasons for this erratic findings is that the description and illustration of the terms "acinus" and "alveolus" do not correspond to their morphology and physiology. The source of the ambiguous terminology of the major human salivary glands can be traced back to errors in translation, mainly from Greek and Latin to German, and then from German to English.Another reason may be due to the technique of histological sample preparation at that time (Kolliker, 1854) that made the observer unable to distinguish fine differences in the internal luminal morphology (Bracegirdle, 1987).