ETYM Greek, descent; cata down + hodos way.
1. The terminal or electrode that is negatively charged and from which electrons flow.
2. The electron-emitting electrode in a vacuum tube.
3. The negative terminal of a battery. Compare anode.
In electronics, the part of an electronic device in which electrons are generated. In a thermionic valve, electrons are produced by the heating effect of an applied current; in a photocell, they are produced by the interaction of light and a semiconducting material. The cathode is kept at a negative potential relative to the device's other electrodes (anodes) in order to ensure that the liberated electrons stream away from the cathode and toward the anodes.
Negative pole.
The negative pole or electrode of an electrolytic cell or system. The cathode attracts positively charged particles or ions (cations).
Negative terminal; electrode by which current leaves. cathode particle, electron. cathode ray, stream of electrons from cathode to anode in discharge tube; cathode ray tube, vacuum tube in television receiver on fluorescent end of which (the screen) picture is created by cathode rays.
In chemistry, the negative electrode of an electrolytic cell, toward which positive particles (cations), usually in solution, are attracted. See electrolysis.
A cathode is given its negative charge by connecting it to the negative side of an external electrical supply. This is in contrast to the negative electrode of an electrical (battery) cell, which acquires its charge in the course of a spontaneous chemical reaction taking place within the cell. + prikaži više

ETYM Cf. French négative.
1. A piece of photographic film showing an image with black and white tones reversed.
2. A reply of denial.