anode

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the electrode at which oxidation occurs in an electrochemical cell; it is negative in a cell supplying current and positive when external power drives the reaction

   During discharge, zinc atoms at the battery's anode lose electrons to the external circuit.

2. 2
   noun

   the electrode through which conventional current enters a polarized electrical device, such as the plate that receives electrons in a vacuum tube

   Electrons emitted by the cathode accelerate toward the anode in the vacuum tube.

From Greek anodos ("a way up, ascent"), from ana- ("up") + hodos ("way, path"). The English scientific term was coined in 1834 by William Whewell for Michael Faraday, alongside cathode and related electrochemical vocabulary.

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