punctum saliensとは 意味・読み方・使い方

名詞

punctum saliens (uncountable)

1. (biology, chiefly historical) The primordial heart in an embryo, appearing as a throbbing point.
   • 1846, The Lancet London: A Journal of British and Foreign Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Physiology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Public Health and News, page 382:

     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. (figuratively) Starting point, source; gist.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gist

   • 1830, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, page 67:

     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, […]

Further reading

• “punctum saliens” in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press.