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Punctum saliens

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The primordial heart in an embryo, appearing as a throbbing point. historical, uncountable

    "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."

  2. 2
    Starting point, source; gist. figuratively, uncountable

    "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, […]"

Etymology

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).

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