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Salient vs Fundamental - What's the difference?

salient | fundamental |

As adjectives the difference between salient and fundamental

is that salient is worthy of note; pertinent or relevant while fundamental is pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation hence: essential, as an element, principle, or law; important; original; elementary.

As nouns the difference between salient and fundamental

is that salient is (military) an outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense while fundamental is a leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the fundamentals of linear algebra.

salient

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Worthy of note; pertinent or relevant.
  • The article is not exhaustive, but it covers the salient points pretty well.
  • Prominent; conspicuous.
  • * Bancroft
  • He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind.
  • (heraldry, usually of a quadruped) Depicted in a leaping posture.
  • a lion salient
  • Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.
  • a salient angle
  • (obsolete) Moving by leaps or springs; jumping.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
  • frogs and salient animals
  • (obsolete) Shooting out up; springing; projecting.
  • * Burke
  • He had in himself a salient , living spring of generous and manly action.

    Quotations

    {{timeline, 1800s=1878 1898, 1900s=1936}} * 1878 , , Book 2, chapter 5: *: With nearer approach these fragmentary sounds became pieced together, and were found to be the salient points of the tune called "Nancy's Fancy." * 1898 , Book2, chapter 2: *: The last salient point in which the systems of these creatures differed from ours was in what one might have thought a very trivial particular. * 1936 , : *: Warning me that many of the street signs were down, the youth drew for my benefit a rough but ample and painstaking sketch map of the town's salient features.

    Antonyms

    * (prominent) obscure, trivial

    Derived terms

    * salient point

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (military) an outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense
  • Derived terms

    * salient pole

    Anagrams

    * ----

    fundamental

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the fundamentals of linear algebra.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation. Hence: Essential, as an element, principle, or law; important; original; elementary.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.}}

    Derived terms

    * fundamentalism * fundamentalist * fundamentality * fundamentally * fundamentalness * fundamental analysis

    Synonyms

    * * See also