punctum saliens en · NOUN
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).
Meanings
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(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.
1846, The Lancet London: A Journal of British and Foreign Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Physiology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Public Health and News, page 382:
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(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, […]
1830, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, page 67:
Synonyms
drift · heartstrings · sum · quintessence · gist · punctum saliens · nub · heart · nitty-gritty · meat · core · essence · nuts and bolts · heart and soul · moral of the story · guts · brass tacks · tenor · substance · bowels · gravamen · soul · crux · spirit · stuff · marrow · kernel · inwardness · heartstring · pith
wikipedia: History of Animals · wikipedia: Volcher Coiter · wikipedia: Ulysses Aldrovandi