An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (for example a semiconductor, an electrolyte or a vacuum). The word was coined by the scientist Michael Faraday from the Greek words elektron (meaning amber, from which the word electricity is derived) and hodos, a way. Anode and cathode in electrochemical cells An electrode in an electrochemical cell is referred to as either an anode or a cathode, words that were also coined by Faraday. The anod… (More on Electrode)