Added 8 October 2026
salient
/ˈseɪ.li.ənt/ noun
Latin root: salientem Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about salient at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
adjective
-
Having a quality that thrusts itself into attention.
an outstanding fact of our time is that nations poisoned by anti semitism proved less fortunate in regard to their own freedom
- (of angles) pointing outward at an angle of less than 180 degrees.
- Represented as leaping (rampant but leaning forward).
Origin
The heraldic sense “leaping” and the sense “projecting outward” are borrowed from Latin salientem, the accusative form of saliēns (“springing, leaping”) (whence -ent), 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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)