Diode
//ˈdaɪ.əʊd// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An electronic device that allows current to flow in one direction only; used chiefly as a rectifier.
"I propose to give the name diode to a tube with two electrodes."
- 2 a semiconductor that consists of a p-n junction wordnet
- 3 a thermionic tube having two electrodes; used as a rectifier wordnet
Example
More examples"Startled by the intense beam he produced when he rigged the diode to his bike generator, he recalls saying to his partner that a child could read by the light of a single diode."
Etymology
From di- (“two”) + -ode. Learned formation, coined by William Henry Eccles in 1919, after Ancient Greek δίοδος (díodos, “passage through”), which however is formed not with δι- (di-, “two”) but with δια- (dia-, “through”).
Related phrases
More for "diode"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.