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salient

 - 3 dictionary results

sa⋅li⋅ent

  [sey-lee-uhnt, seyl-yuhnt]
Use salient in a Sentence
–adjective
1. prominent or conspicuous: salient traits.
2. projecting or pointing outward: a salient angle.
3. leaping or jumping: a salient animal.
4. Heraldry. (of a beast) represented as leaping: a lion salient.
–noun
5. a salient angle or part, as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line.
6. Physical Geography. a landform that extends out beyond its surroundings, as a spur projecting from the side of a mountain. Compare reentrant (def. 4).
Origin:
1555–65; < L salient- (s. of saliēns, prp. of salīre to spring, jump), equiv. to sali- verb s. + -ent- -ent

Related forms:
sa⋅li⋅ent⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. important; striking, remarkable.

Antonyms:
1. inconspicuous, unimportant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To salient
sa·li·ent   (sā'lē-ənt, sāl'yənt)   
adj.  

  1. Projecting or jutting beyond a line or surface; protruding.

  2. Strikingly conspicuous; prominent. See Synonyms at noticeable.

  3. Springing; jumping: salient tree toads.

n.  

  1. A military position that projects into the position of the enemy.

  2. A projecting angle or part.


[Latin saliēns, salient-, present participle of salīre, to leap; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]
sa'li·ent·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

salient 
1562, "leaping," a heraldic term, from L. salientem (nom. saliens), prp. of salire "to leap," from PIE base *sel- "to jump" (cf. Gk. hallesthai "to leap," M.Ir. saltraim "I trample," and probably Skt. ucchalati "rises quickly"). The meaning "pointing outward" (preserved in military usage) is from 1687; that of "prominent, striking" first recorded 1840, from salient point (1672), which refers to the heart of an embryo, which seems to leap, and translates L. punctum saliens, going back to Aristotle's writings. Hence, the "starting point" of anything.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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