salient
very visible, standing out
TRANSLATION
hervorspringend, hervorstechend, hervorstehend, vorspringend salient feature = hervortretende Eigenschaft
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Two brothers named John and Augustus Allen bought a patch of swamp. They attracted settlers by placing well-written advertisements on America's Eastern seaboard. The adverts failed to mention SALIENT facts such as the mosquitoes, the alligators or the swamp."
Mark Gregory - BBC financial reporter - 14 July 2002)
Mark Gregory - BBC financial reporter - 14 July 2002)
Did you
know?
salient
Is often used by politicians as if it meant "relevant", as in "I just want to make a few salient points". But salient really means "prominent" or "conspicuous".
The politician who raises "a few salient points" is, in fact, drawing our attention to the most obvious points.
Salient came into English in the 17th century from a Latin root meaning "to leap". It could be (and originally was) used to refer to the leaping or jumping of animals, or water in a fountain that leaps or jets upwards.
In geography anything that stands above the general level, or a narrow spurt of land projecting from a shoreline, can be called a salient. Hence, our most common use of the word is (although we don’t often recognise it) entirely metaphorical: in speaking of the salient we are speaking of the extremely obvious.
Synonyms:
arresting, arrestive, conspicuous, famous, important, impressive, intrusive, jutting, marked, moving, notable, obtrusive, obvious, outstanding, pertinent, projecting, prominent, pronounced, protruding, remarkable, signal, significant, striking, weighty
Is often used by politicians as if it meant "relevant", as in "I just want to make a few salient points". But salient really means "prominent" or "conspicuous".
The politician who raises "a few salient points" is, in fact, drawing our attention to the most obvious points.
Salient came into English in the 17th century from a Latin root meaning "to leap". It could be (and originally was) used to refer to the leaping or jumping of animals, or water in a fountain that leaps or jets upwards.
In geography anything that stands above the general level, or a narrow spurt of land projecting from a shoreline, can be called a salient. Hence, our most common use of the word is (although we don’t often recognise it) entirely metaphorical: in speaking of the salient we are speaking of the extremely obvious.
Synonyms:
arresting, arrestive, conspicuous, famous, important, impressive, intrusive, jutting, marked, moving, notable, obtrusive, obvious, outstanding, pertinent, projecting, prominent, pronounced, protruding, remarkable, signal, significant, striking, weighty
