salient

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English

WOTD – 13 April 2006

Etymology

The heraldic sense “leaping” and the sense “projecting outward” are from Latin saliēns, salientem, from saliō (“leap, spring”). The senses “prominent” and “pertinent” are relatively recently from the phrase salient point, which is from the Latin punctum saliēns, a translation of Aristotle's term for the embryonal heart visible in (opened) eggs, which he thought seemed to move already. Compare the German calque der springende Punkt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈseɪljənt/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈseɪ.ljənt/, /ˈseɪ.li.ənt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Hyphenation: sa‧lient

Adjective

salient (comparative more salient, superlative most salient)

  1. Worthy of note; pertinent or relevant.
    Synonyms: pertinent, relevant; see also Thesaurus:pertinent
    The article is not exhaustive, but it covers the salient points pretty well.
  2. Prominent; conspicuous.
    Antonyms: obscure, trivial
    • (Can we date this quote by Bancroft and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind.
    • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎[1], page 2:
      Professionally published dictionaries do not seem to have extended coverage beyond the most frequent and salient items.
  3. (heraldry, usually of a quadruped) Depicted in a leaping posture.
    a lion salient
  4. (often military) Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.
    a salient angle
  5. (obsolete) Moving by leaps or springs; jumping.
    • (Can we date this quote by Sir Thomas Browne and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      frogs and salient animals
  6. (obsolete) Shooting or springing out; projecting.
    • (Can we date this quote by Burke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      He had in himself a salient, living spring of generous and manly action.
  7. (geometry) Denoting any angle less than two right angles.

Quotations

1878 1898 1936
1st c. 2nd c. 3rd c. 4th c. 5th c. 6th c. 7th c. 8th c. 9th c. 10th c. 11th c. 12th c. 13th c. 14th c. 15th c. 16th c. 17th c. 18th c. 19th c. 20th c. 21st c.
  • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, Book 2, chapter 5:
    With nearer approach these fragmentary sounds became pieced together, and were found to be the salient points of the tune called "Nancy's Fancy."
  • 1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds Book2, chapter 2:
    The last salient point in which the systems of these creatures differed from ours was in what one might have thought a very trivial particular.
  • 1936, H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Over Innsmouth:
    Warning me that many of the street signs were down, the youth drew for my benefit a rough but ample and painstaking sketch map of the town's salient features.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

salient (plural salients)

  1. (military) An outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.
    • 1978, Jan Morris, Farewell the Trumpets, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Chapter 9, p. 193,[2]
      The battlefronts were often no more than a few hundred yards wide, and the salients never more than a few miles deep.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Latin

Pronunciation

Verb

(deprecated template usage) salient

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of saliō
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