sali-, salt-, sult-, -salta-

(Latin: to leap, leaping; to jump, jumping; to hop, hopping; to spring forward)

Don't confuse this sali-, salt-; "jump" unit with another sal-, sali- unit which refers to "salt".

Latin origins of words in English (jump, spring forward)

When someone has been "jumped on", as is sometimes used figuratively in English, that person is using a classical authority as the source for "insult"; which is the Latin insultare, "to jump on".

Expanding the meanings of related words, we have resultare, "to spring back", and the "result" of an action is that which "comes back" to a person. Also, "to exult" is to leap out or up and is a vivid way of expressing a strong feeling.

Etymologically, all of these words come from salire, "to leap". Sometimes we hear the expression "salient features" or "salient points", meaning those features or points which leap up to attract attention. "Resiliency" is the power of "springing back" or "recovery".

An unusual word which is a member of this family unit is saltare, which means to leap often or continuously; that is, "to dance". If you would like to be more sophisticated, instead of using the word "dance", you could say that you were participating in a "saltatorial-social activity".

assail, assails; assailed; assailing (verbs)
1. To attack vigorously or violently: "The troops are assailing the terrorists."
2. To attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, to abuse, etc.: "As a politician, he was always ready to assail his opponent with slander."
3. To undertake a task with the purpose of mastering it: "She assailed her university studies with new determination."
4. To impinge upon; to make an impact on; to beset: "Our minds were assailed by all of the conflicting arguments presented by the speakers."
assailability (s), assailabilities (pl) (nouns)
Vulnerability to forceful attack or susceptibility to injury or an attack: "Too many assailabilities are committed by attackers or muggers in cities; especially, at night."
assailable (adjective)
That which cannot be defended or which is incapable of being defended: "No matter how much the military tried to set up a proper defense, their assailable positions could not protect them from their enemies."
assailant (s), assailants (pl) (nouns)
1. Someone who violently attacks somebody else, usually causing physical injury: "The assailant was identified for the police by the man he had beaten."
2. People who strike, attack, or invade with violence to others: "The assailant was charged with burglary when he was caught leaving the house with the property of the people who lived there after he had forced them to open their safe and then tied them up."
assailed (adjective)
Invaded or attacked with violence: "So many assailed communities are seen more and more in TV news broadcasts."

"Members of the assailed family were killed or seriously wounded by the bomb that was thrown into their house."

assassinate, assail, assault
assassinate (uh SAS uh nayt")
To murder (a prominent person) with a surprise attack, often for political reasons: "Someone did indeed assassinate President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963."
assail (uh SAYL)
To attack with or as if with violent blows: "A mugger tried to assail him on the dark street as he was walking home."
assault (uh SALT)
1. A violent physical or verbal attack: "He was heard to verbally assault one of his coworkers."
2. To attack with or as if with violent blows: "She was wanted by the police for assault because she attacked a man with her umbrella."

It always seemed a bit unfair that the newspapers referred to the attempted shooting of a famous man as an attempt to assassinate that person. We ordinary people have to be satisfied with being subject to an assault by someone attempting to assail us.

assault (s), assaults (pl) (nouns)
1. A physical or criminal attack on a person or people: "The robber was charged by the police with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon."
2. A military attack or onslaught: "The military forces were involved in assaults that lasted for several years."
assault and battery (s), assaults and batteries (pl) (nouns)
A legal term for a crime of threatening someone together with the act of making physical contact with him or her: "When the two men got into an argument in the store, one of them said he would knock the other one down and spit on him and then he actually kicked the other person's knee which caused the victim to fall down on the floor and the kicker was charged with assault and battery by the police who arrested him."
assault, assaults; assaulted; assaulting (verbs)
1. To make a physical attack on a place or a person: The criminal was convicted of assaulting and robbing a man on in the parking lot of the store."

"The woman accused the man of sexually assaulting her."

2. To use violent force or to bombard someone or the senses with something undesirable or unpleasant: "The ears of the people were assaulted by the loud music from the neighbor's apartment."
3. To carry out a military offensive against an enemy using weapons: "The unit of special forces parachuted into the camp and assaulted the gang and rescued the hostages that were kidnapped by the criminals."
assaulter (s), assaulters (pl) (nouns)
Someone who physically or verbally attacks other people or places: "The assalter in the audience strongly criticized the politician's tax policies."

"The people in the neighborhood were relieved to hear that the assaulter of their houses was finally arrested by the police."

assaultive (adjective)
1. Tending or likely to commit an attack: "The psychologists determined that assaultive people often had abusive parents."
2. Someone who is extremely aggressive or forcefully assertive: "The player had a loud and assaultive style of playing that sometimes made other players cautious."
desultorily (adverb)
1. In a manner that is without a specific method; to do something loosely: "The politician was going from one subject to another in a desultorily halfhearted way."
2. A lack of a definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another: "The teacher's mind was full of desultorily unfocused thoughts regarding what to do with her classes next semester."
3. That which occurs randomly or occasionally: "As a result of the poor economy, the fashionable clothing store had desultorily interested customers."
desultoriness (s) (noun)
Unconnectedness; a passing from one thing to another without any organization or method: "The desultoriness of the project committee resulted in more chaos than clarifications of their objectives."
desultory (adjective)
1. Aimlessly passing from one thing to another: "She was talking in a desultory manner."
2. Happening in a random, disorganized, or unmethodical way: "The candidate had a desultory conference with the reporters."
3. Marked by a lack of a definite plan, regularity, or purpose; jumping from one thing to another: "When he was asked what his speech would be about, he could only come up with desultory ideas."
exult, exults; exulted; exulting (verbs)
To express or to feel elation, happiness, excitement, or jubilation; especially, because of some kind of successful accomplishment: "When the writer heard that his new novel was at the top of the book sales, he was exulting with his wife and friends at a local restaurant."

"The students exulted when the last day of school finally arrived."

"The country was exulting when the war ended."

"The football team and their fans exulted their winning of the championship."