Etymograph

English

cathode

Cathode comes from Ancient Greek ὁδός ‘journey, way’, from Proto-Indo-European *sodós ‘course’, and perhaps ultimately from *sed- ‘to sit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodós1‘course’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hodós1uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁδός2hodós‘journey, way’
  5. Englishtodaycathode2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁδός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English cathode

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁδός‘to sit’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁδός‘course’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hodósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁδόςuncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁδόςWiktionary, English cathodehodós‘journey, way’
  5. EnglishtodaycathodeWiktionary, English cathode

The story

Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, president, size, sell, sit, sitting, session, chair, seat, settle, resident, assess, nest, possess, siege, niche, saddle, subsidy, sedan, residue, residual, reside, sediment, nye, insidious, beset, prasad, soot, setter, sedentary, dissident, obsess, sedative, chaise, presidio, sedate, sessile, presidium, seance, salo, 92 more

through Ancient Greek ὁδός ‘journey, way’

method, exodus, anode, 13 more

Today it means

noun 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).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cathode”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ὁδός. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / cathode

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