punctum saliens

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punctum saliens

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin punctum saliēns (“leaping point”), attributed to Volcher Coiter or Ulysses Aldrovandi, after a Latin translation of Aristotle's History of Animals (book 6, part 3).

noun

historical, uncountable The primordial heart in an embryo, appearing as a throbbing point. The rudiments of the brain, eyes, punctum saliens, spinal cord, six vertebrae, shades of ribs, a dark knob at the cephalic extremity of spine, and an oval expansion at the caudal extremity.
figuratively, uncountable Starting point, source; gist. In him we discover the punctum saliens of a principle which is the master spirit of animal and vegetable motion, the ruling power of chemical science, the governing influence of atmospheric composition, the presiding genius of respiration, […]
Similar: bowels, sum, brass tacks, core, crux, essence, gist, drift, guts, gravamen, heart, heart and soul

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MLA

"punctum saliens." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/punctum%20saliens. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

punctum saliens. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/punctum%20saliens

Chicago

"punctum saliens." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/punctum%20saliens.

BibTeX

@misc{punctum_saliens_2026,
  title = {punctum saliens},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/punctum%20saliens},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}