Meanings
plural diodes
- businessAn 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.
1919 April 18, William Eccles, Electrician, page 4752 more examples
If a crystal or a diode is used, the amplifier-voltmeter combination may be used with an amplitude-modulated source; or with a c-w source, the detector may be connected to a microammeter or galvanometer as an indicating device.
1949, Samuel Silver, Microwave Antenna Theory and Design, page 593In this circuit when the diode is forward biased, the voltage across the diode remains fairly close to the diode's barrier potential.
2005, Robert Diffenderfer, Electronic Devices: Systems and Applications, page 69
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna thermionic tube having two electrodes; used as a rectifier
nouna semiconductor that consists of a p-n junction
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδίοδος“passage through”
- Englishdiode
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”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صِمَام ثُنَائِيّ, ثَنَائِي دِيُود
- صِمَام ثُنَائِيّ (ṣimām ṯunāʔiyy)electronic device
- ثَنَائِي دِيُود (ṯanāʔī diyūd)electronic device
Basque diodo
- diodoelectronic device
Catalan díode
- díodeelectronic device
Chinese Mandarin 二極管 /二极管, 二極體 /二极体
- 二極管 /二极管 (èrjíguǎn)electronic device
- 二極體 /二极体 (èrjítǐ)electronic device
Czech dioda
- diodaelectronic device
Danish diode
- diodeelectronic device
Dutch diode
- diodeelectronic device
Esperanto diodo
- diodoelectronic device
Finnish diodi
- diodielectronic device
French diode
- diodeelectronic device
German Diode
- Diodeelectronic device
Greek δίοδος
- δίοδος (díodos)electronic device
Hebrew דיודה
- דיודה (dioda)electronic device
Hindi डायोड
- डायोड (ḍāyoḍ)electronic device
Hungarian dióda
- diódaelectronic device
Icelandic díóða, tvistur
- díóðaelectronic device
- tvisturelectronic device
- tvískauta rörelectronic device
- tvískautielectronic device
Indonesian diode
- diodeelectronic device
Italian diodo
- diodoelectronic device
Japanese ダイオード
- ダイオード (daiōdo)electronic device
Korean 다이오드
- 다이오드 (daiodeu)electronic device
Malay diod
- diodelectronic device
Māori ngōhiko, whāhutahi
- ngōhikoelectronic device
- whāhutahielectronic device
Norwegian Bokmål diode
- diodeelectronic device
Persian دیود
- دیود (diyod)electronic device
Polish dioda
- diodaelectronic device
Portuguese díodo
- díodoelectronic device
Romanian diodă
- diodăelectronic device
Russian дио́д
- дио́д (diód)electronic device
Spanish diodo
- diodoelectronic device
Swedish diod
- diodelectronic device
Tagalog duhandas, diyodo
- duhandaselectronic device
- diyodoelectronic device
Thai ไดโอด
- ไดโอด (daiòht)electronic device
Turkish diyot
- diyotelectronic device
Vietnamese ống hai cực, bóng lưỡng cực
- ống hai cựcelectronic device
- bóng lưỡng cựcelectronic device
- đèn lưỡng cựcelectronic device
- điôtelectronic device
Welsh deuod
- deuodelectronic device
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with diode
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
diode. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diode
“diode.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diode. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diode,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diode.
Source: diode on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.