salient
- prominent or conspicuous: salient traits.
- projecting or pointing outward: a salient angle.
- leaping or jumping: a salient animal.
- Heraldry. (of a beast) represented as leaping: a lion salient.
- a salient angle or part, as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line.
- 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 of salient
Synonyms
See more synonyms for salient on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for saliently
Contemporary Examples
A lot has changed in those three weeks—most saliently, that Republican voters now clearly disagree with Coulter.
Michael Tomasky: After Saturday Night’s Debate, Is It the End of Mitt?Michael Tomasky
December 12, 2011
Though Joe Barton, who saliently said that President Obama was mistreating BP after the oil spill, also deserves consideration.
Historical Examples
The steamer was distinct but immaterial, saliently accentuated, as a phantom.
The Sea and the JungleH. M. Tomlinson
To Dale's mind, however, there was something else of a saliently differentiating character.
The Devil's GardenW. B. Maxwell
All the pictures, in gold frames, saliently depict faces and sundry accessories.
The Kingdom of God is Within You, What is ArtLyof N. Tolstoi
It stands as saliently alone as a meteoric boulder in a meadow.
This solicitude about little things is most saliently in evidence in the military domain.
England and GermanyEmile Joseph Dillon
salient
- prominent, conspicuous, or strikinga salient feature
- (esp in fortifications) projecting outwards at an angle of less than 180°Compare re-entrant (def. 1)
- geometry (of an angle) pointing outwards from a polygon and hence less than 180°Compare re-entrant (def. 2)
- (esp of animals) leaping
- military a projection of the forward line into enemy-held territory
- a salient angle
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for saliently
salient
adj.
1560s, "leaping," a heraldic term, from Latin salientem (nominative saliens), present participle of salire "to leap," from PIE root *sel- (4) "to jump" (cf. Greek hallesthai "to leap," Middle Irish saltraim "I trample," and probably Sanskrit ucchalati "rises quickly").
It was used in Middle English as an adjective meaning "leaping, skipping." The meaning "pointing outward" (preserved in military usage) is from 1680s; that of "prominent, striking" first recorded 1840, from salient point (1670s), which refers to the heart of an embryo, which seems to leap, and translates Latin punctum saliens, going back to Aristotle's writings. Hence, the "starting point" of anything.
salient
n.
1828, from salient (adj.).