salient

Meaning

Adj

1. Worthy of note; pertinent or relevant.
2. Prominent; conspicuous.
3. (usually) Depicted in a leaping posture.
4. (often) Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.
5. (obsolete) Moving by leaps or springs; jumping.
6. (obsolete) Shooting or springing out; projecting.
7. Denoting any angle less than two right angles.

Noun

1. An outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.
2. A protrusion of the administrative borders of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state into another geopolitical entity, generally of the same administrative level.
3. An overall-convex, protruding section of a sinuous fold and thrust belt, thrust sheet, or a single thrust fault, caused by one or more of: deformation (folding and faulting) of strata and geologic structures during orogenesis, differences in the angle of critical taper during orogenesis, or differing erosional level of the present geomorphological surface.

Opposite of

obscure, trivial, recess

Synonyms

prominent

outstanding

striking

remarkable

protruding

bulge

exemplary

fantastic

brilliant

conspicuous

notable

plain

apparent

leading

bulging

projecting

projection

clear

eminent

noteworthy

noticeable

evident

spectacular

important

jute

jutting

keen

knob

ledge

lobe

lug

lurid

main

mega

📣

obtrusive

pivotal

poignant

point

polar

predominant

pre-eminent

principal

prominence

protrusion

ramus

salience

saliency

set-off

sharp

shoulder

Translations

saillant

saliente

saliente

proeminente

saliente

remarquable

op de voorgrond tredend

prominent

éminent

vooruitstekend

hervorspringend

uitstekend

merkwaardig

opmerkelijk

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈseɪ.li.ənt/

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.