salient

American  

[sey-lee-uhnt, seyl-yuhnt] / ˈseɪ li ənt, ˈseɪl yənt /

adjective

1. prominent or conspicuous.

   salient traits.

   Synonyms:

   remarkable, striking, important

   Antonyms:

   unimportant, inconspicuous

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

1. a salient angle or part, as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line.

2. Physical Geography. a landform that extends out beyond its surroundings, as a spur projecting from the side of a mountain.

salient British  

/ ˈseɪlɪənt /

adjective

1. prominent, conspicuous, or striking

   a salient feature

2. (esp in fortifications) projecting outwards at an angle of less than 180° Compare re-entrant

3. geometry (of an angle) pointing outwards from a polygon and hence less than 180° Compare re-entrant

4. (esp of animals) leaping

---

noun

1. military a projection of the forward line into enemy-held territory

2. a salient angle

Other Word Forms

• salience noun
• saliently adverb
• unsalient adjective
• unsaliently adverb

Etymology

Origin of salient

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin salient-, stem of saliēns “jumping,” present participle of salīre “to spring, jump”

Example Sentences

The study, titled "Primate gut microbiota induce evolutionarily salient changes in mouse neurodevelopment," was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

From Science Daily

Economist Hengchen Dai and colleagues show that people are more likely to launch new goals after salient dates—birthdays, Mondays, the start of a semester and, of course, Jan. 1.

From The Wall Street Journal

And one symbol has emerged as particularly salient - the frog.

From BBC

"In fact, we blink systematically less when salient information is presented."

From Science Daily

Donnelly isn’t inclined to recommend shorting silver here but his salient message is this: “It’s worth noting that after 100% rallies in a single year, forward returns are bad.”

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• arresting
• conspicuous
• pertinent
• weighty