Etymologically
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electrode

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 20:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/, /iˈlɛk.tɹəʊd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English electro- + -ode,[2][3][4] and was coined by the English chemist and physicist Michael Faraday[5][3][6] on the pattern of anode and cathode.[5][3][7][8][6] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English take the first part from electric.[9][7][8] The second part is Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós, “way, path, road”),[5][9][7][8][6] the word also found in exodus.[5] In a letter of 24 April 1834 Faraday wrote that he had asked a friend, Dr Nicholl, for new names for his electrical facts, and that "what have been called the poles of the battery I call the electrodes".[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A conductor by which an electric current enters or leaves an object, substance or region: 17 December 1833, in Faraday's diary.[2] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date the word to 1834, from Faraday's published writings.[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word replaced the older term "poles" of the battery, as Faraday's letter shows.[2] It was later extended to the elements of electron tubes and arc lamps,[4][10] and of semiconductor devices such as the transistor,[4][10] and in engineering from 1921 to the rod from which the arc rises in arc welding.[2]

Timeline

  • 1833 – in Faraday's diary.[2]
  • 1834 – Faraday's new name for the poles of a battery.[2][5][3][4]
  • 1921 – in arc welding, the conductor from which the arc arises.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A conductor through which an electric current enters or leaves an electrolyte, an electric arc, or an electron tube; an anode or cathode.[10][4][2]
  2. An element in a semiconductor device that emits, collects or controls the movement of electrons or holes.[10][4]
  3. In arc welding, the rod or wire from which the arc arises, often also supplying the filler metal.[2]

Word family

  • interelectrode
  • microelectrode
  • calomel electrode
  • hydrogen electrode
  • reference electrode

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins