Word of the Day

salient \SAY-lee-unt; SAYL-yunt\, adjective:

1. Shooting out or up; projecting.
2. Forcing itself on the attention; prominent; conspicuous; noticeable.
3. Leaping; springing; jumping.
4. An outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.
5. A projecting angle or part.

What I had in mind was an autobiography in which, while treating my person with due reverence, I would present a firsthand account of recent events in Europe that put me in the running for both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize (to acquaint you right away with one of my salient characteristics: megalomania).
-- Thomas Brussig, Heroes Like Us, Translated by John Brownjohn

He gave science an exciting, positive image when many Americans were skeptical of it, worried that its most salient effect was to disenchant the universe and undercut religion.
-- David A. Hollinger, "Star Power", New York Times, November 28, 1999

The strength of the hypothesis is that it simultaneously explains all these salient features, none of which had satisfactory independent explanations.
-- Paul F. Hoffman and Daniel P. Schrag, "Snowball Earth", Scientific American, January 2000

He was killed during an attack on German positions dug into Ploegsteert Wood on the Ypres salient.
-- Russell Jenkins and Stephen Farrell, "Search begins for family of Flanders fusilier", Times (London), January 10, 2000

Salient derives from the present participle of Latin salire, to leap. Other words deriving from salire are sally, to leap forth or rush out suddenly; and perhaps salmon, the "leaping" fish.