cathode

English

Alternative forms

• kathode

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) and ὁδός (hodós, “journey, way”), forming the New Greek compound κάθοδος (káthodos, “way down, descent”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæθ.oʊd/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

cathode (plural cathodes)

1. (electricity) An electrode, of a cell or other electrically polarized device, through which a positive current of electricity flows outwards (and thus, electrons flow inwards). It can have either a negative or a positive voltage with respect to anode of the same polarized device (depending on whether the device is a load or a source, respectively).
2. (chemistry) (by extension) The electrode at which chemical reduction of cations takes place, usually resulting in the deposition of metal onto the electrode.
3. (electronics) The electrode from which electrons are emitted into a vacuum tube or gas-filled tube.
4. (electronics) That electrode of a semiconductor device which is connected to the n-type material of a p-n junction.

Antonyms

• anode

Derived terms

• anticathode
• biocathode
• cathode dark space
• cathode ray
• cathode-ray tube
• cathodic
• catholyte
• cold cathode
• hot cathode
• multicathode
• photocathode

 

Related terms

• cation

Translations

electrode through which current flows outward

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: կաթոդ (hy) (katʻod)
• Basque: katodo
• Belarusian: като́д m (katód)
• Bulgarian: като́д m (katód)
• Catalan: càtode (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陰極／阴极 (zh) (yīnjí), 正極／正极 (zh) (zhèngjí)

• Czech: katoda (cs) f
• Dutch: kathode (nl) f
• Esperanto: katodo
• Estonian: katood
• Finnish: katodi (fi)
• French: cathode (fr) f
• Galician: cátodo m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Kathode (de) f, Minuspol
• Gujarati: ઋણાગ્ર (ŕṇāgra)
• Hawaiian: ʻūholo uila ʻine
• Hindi: ऋणाग्र (ŕṇāgra), कैथोड (kaithoḍ)
• Hungarian: katód (hu)
• Icelandic: bakskaut n, mínusskaut n, neiskaut n, neikvætt rafskaut n, katóða f
• Indonesian: katode (id)
• Italian: catodo (it) m
• Japanese: 陰極 (ja) (いんきょく, inkyoku), カソード (ja) (kasōdo)
• Khmer: កាតូដ (kaatout), កាតូត (km) (kaatout)
• Korean: 음극 (ko) (eumgeuk), 캐소드 (kaesodeu)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: katodas (lt) m
• Macedonian: като́да f (katóda)
• Maori: pitoiho, pito hopuirahiko
• Marathi: ऋणाग्र (ŕṇāgra)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: katoda (pl) f
• Portuguese: cátodo (pt) m, catodo m (Brazil), catódio m
• Russian: като́д (ru) m (katód)
• Spanish: cátodo (es) m
• Swahili: kathodi
• Swedish: katod (sv) c
• Tagalog: balindas
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: като́д m (katód)
• Vietnamese: âm cực (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} katode (af)
• Aragonese: ^{(please verify)} catodo m
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} katodo
• Kabuverdianu:

  ALUPEC: ^{(please verify)} katiod' m

  Badiu: ^{(please verify)} katiodu m

  Fogo: ^{(please verify)} katiodu m

  São Vicente: ^{(please verify)} katiod' m

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} katoda (sh) f

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

cathode f (plural cathodes)

1. cathode

Further reading

• “cathode”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.