salient
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈseɪ.li.ənt/
ipa: /ˈseɪ.ljənt/
ipa: /ˈsæɪ.li.ənt/
ipa: /ˈsæɪ.ljənt/
Forms: form: more salient
form: most salient
Etymology: The heraldic sense “leaping” and the sense “projecting outward” are borrowed from Latin salientem, the accusative form of saliēns (“springing, leaping”), present participle of saliō (“leap, spring”, verb). The senses “prominent” and “pertinent” are relatively recent, and derive from the phrase salient point, which is a calque of 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 also the German calque der springende Punkt.
Senses: examples: text: The article is not exhaustive, but it covers the salient points pretty well.
text: With nearer approach these fragmentary sounds became pieced together, and were found to be the salient points of the tune called "Nancy's Fancy."
ref: 1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, chapter V, in The Return of the Native […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter II, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, (please specify the page number(s)):
synonyms: word: pertinent
word: relevant
word: applicable
word: apposite
word: apt
word: felicitous
word: germane
word: in point
word: material
word: on point
word: on-topic
word: pertinent
word: relevant
word: salient
word: to the point
glosses: Worthy of note; pertinent or relevant.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1936, H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Over Innsmouth:
text: He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind.
ref: 1834, George Bancroft, History of the United States of America, from the discovery of the American continent:
text: Professionally published dictionaries do not seem to have extended coverage beyond the most frequent and salient items.
ref: 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 2:
text: Russian forces likely accumulated a large amount of equipment for such mechanized assaults, but significant medium- to long-term constraints on Russian armored vehicle stocks will become more salient as losses grow and may force the Russian military command to rethink the benefit of continuing such intensified mechanized activity in Ukraine.
ref: 2024 October 3, Riley Bailey, Angelica Evans, Grace Mappes, Davit Gasparyan, Nate Trotter, Frederick W. Kagan, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 3, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:
antonyms: obscure
trivial
glosses: Prominent; conspicuous.
examples: text: a lion salient
topics: government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
nobility
politics
glosses: Depicted in a leaping posture.
raw_tags: of a quadruped
examples: text: a salient angle
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.
examples: text: frogs and salient animals
ref: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Moving by leaps or springs; jumping.
examples: text: He had in himſelf a ſalient, living ſpring of generous and manly action.
ref: 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 50:
glosses: Shooting or springing out; projecting.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: Denoting any angle less than two right angles.
Derived terms: countersalient
salient point
Related terms: salience
saliency