saillant

Forms

saillant (feminine saillante, masculine plural saillants, feminine plural saillantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is the present participle from French saillir (“to leap, to jut out”), used as an adjective.^[2][3][4] The verb is from Latin saliō (“to leap, to cover a female”);^[4] its palatal ⟨ill⟩, regular in forms such as saillent from saliunt, spread to the rest of the verb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon, meaning “gushing, springing out”,^[2][3][5] and about 1175 in Chrétien de Troyes, of a lively, spirited horse.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The early senses “gushing” and “leaping, nimble” went out of use.^[5] In the middle of the 16th century the adjective came to mean “jutting out, projecting”,^[5][2] whence angle saillant, an angle whose point faces outwards (1680, Richelet), the opposite of rentrant.^[2][5] Of the old sense of leaping only the heraldic use remains, for an animal rearing as if to leap (1681, Ménestrier: bélier saillant).^[5][2]

In 1740 the Académie records the figurative sense “that stands out, that strikes the attention”,^[2][5] used in painting from 1771.^[5] As a noun, saillant was first a term of fortification for a part of a work that juts out (1765, according to Rey, Bloch and Wartburg date the noun to 1560),^[5][4] and by analogy a stretch of front line or frontier that bulges outwards.^[6]

Timeline

• 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses it for “gushing”.^[2][3]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it of a spirited horse.^[2][3]
• before 1559 – Du Bellay uses it for “projecting”.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records angle saillant.^[2]
• 1681 – Ménestrier uses it in heraldry.^[2][5]
• 1740 – The Académie records the sense “striking, notable”.^[2][5]
• 1765 – First use as a noun in fortification.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That juts out or projects beyond a surface, prominent: of a cornice or a balcony, and of features such as pommettes saillantes “high cheekbones”.^[6][7][8]
2. (geometry) Of an angle or angular sector: of less than 180°, pointing outwards, the opposite of rentrant.^[6][8][1]
3. (heraldry) Of an animal: rearing as if to leap.^[6][7][9]
4. (figurative) That stands out and strikes the attention, salient, striking: les points saillants d'un rapport.^[6][8][1]

Noun

1. (fortification) A salient, a part of a fortification or a structure that juts out: le saillant d'un bastion.^[6][7][10]
2. By analogy, a stretch of front line or frontier that bulges outwards.^[6]

Related words

• saillir
• saillie
• tressaillir
• sauter
• Latin saliō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)