Salient \Sa"li*ent\, a. [L. saliens, -entis, p. pr. of salire to leap; cf. F. saillant. See Sally, n. & v. i..]

1. Moving by leaps or springs; leaping; bounding; jumping. "Frogs and salient animals." --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]

2. Shooting out or up; springing; projecting. [1913 Webster]

He had in himself a salient, living spring of generous and manly action. --Burke. [1913 Webster]

3. Hence, figuratively, forcing itself on the attention; prominent; conspicuous; noticeable. [1913 Webster]

He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster]

4. (Math. & Fort.) Projecting outwardly; as, a salient angle; -- opposed to reentering. See Illust. of Bastion. [1913 Webster]

5. (Her.) Represented in a leaping position; as, a lion salient. [1913 Webster]

Salient angle. See Salient, a., 4.

Salient polygon (Geom.), a polygon all of whose angles are salient.

Salient polyhedron (Geom.), a polyhedron all of whose solid angles are salient. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Salient \Sa"li*ent\, a. (Fort.) A salient angle or part; a projection. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

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Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

salient adj
1: having a quality that thrusts itself into attention; "an outstanding fact of our time is that nations poisoned by anti semitism proved less fortunate in regard to their own freedom"; "a new theory is the most prominent feature of the book"; "salient traits"; "a spectacular rise in prices"; "a striking thing about Picadilly Circus is the statue of Eros in the center"; "a striking resemblance between parent and child" [syn: outstanding, prominent, spectacular, striking]
2: (of angles) pointing outward at an angle of less than 180 degrees [ant: re-entrant]
3: represented as leaping (rampant but leaning forward) [syn: salient(ip)]

noun

(military) the part of the line of battle that projects closest to the enemy

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Salient \Sa"li*ent\, a. [L. saliens, -entis, p. pr. of salire to leap; cf. F. saillant. See Sally, n. & v. i..]

1. Moving by leaps or springs; leaping; bounding; jumping. ``Frogs and salient animals.'' --Sir T. Browne.

2. Shooting out or up; springing; projecting.

He had in himself a salient, living spring of generous and manly action. --Burke.

3. Hence, figuratively, forcing itself on the attention; prominent; conspicuous; noticeable.

He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind. --Bancroft.

4. (Math. & Fort.) Projecting outwardly; as, a salient angle; -- opposed to re["e]ntering. See Illust. of Bastion.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Salient \Sa"li*ent\, a. (Fort.) A salient angle or part; a projection.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)