salienti

Salienti is the plural form of the Italian adjective saliente, meaning projecting, protruding, or prominent. In Italian, saliente describes elements that stand out from a surrounding surface or plane and can function as a noun phrase when used with nouns like punti or elementi to indicate key features.

In architecture and urban architecture, saliente refers to projecting features of a façade, such as bays, cornices, or other elements that break the plane of a wall. In geography, the term can describe a coast or landform that projects into a body of water, such as a promontory or salient point along a shoreline. The word is used to highlight parts of a structure or landscape that are visually or functionally distinctive.

In rhetoric and discourse, salienti is commonly used in the phrase punti salienti to denote the main or most important points of a discussion, report, or narrative. This usage mirrors the English term salient points and emphasizes aspects that are particularly notable or worthy of attention.

Etymology and translation notes: saliente stems from the same root as the Italian verb salire in the sense of rising or projecting. The English cognate is salient; while salience in English refers to the quality of standing out, the Italian salienti generally conveys the sense of protruding or prominent features. The plural form salienti is thus used across various fields to enumerate notable elements.

See also: salient, punti salienti, architecture terms for projecting elements, geographic promontory.