Electrode

How to spell electrode

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce electrode

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does electrode mean?

1. nounA conductor through which electricity enters or leaves a battery, cell, or other object or medium.

Electrode in a sentence

• The technician cleaned each electrode before testing the battery.

• A thin layer of corrosion had formed on the metal electrode.

Where does electrode come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word electrode was coined in 1834 by the English scientist Michael Faraday, working with the polymath William Whewell, who supplied him with many Greek-based terms. It joins electro-, which traces back through Latin to the Greek elektron, the word for amber, the fossil resin that produces a static charge when rubbed, and -ode, taken from the Greek hodos, meaning a way or a path. Faraday's idea was that an electrode is the doorway or path by which an electric current enters or leaves a substance, which is also why he built the related terms anode and cathode on the same -ode element. The spelling preserves that Greek hodos ending, so the trap is the unstressed final syllable, which sounds like a vague schwa yet is firmly spelled -ode. Knowing that the ending means path, and that anode and cathode share it, helps fix the -ode rather than a tempting -oad or -ode confusion.

How the word is built

• electro- (relating to electricity)
• -ode (from Greek hodos: way or path)