node
noun
Simple meaning
The point where the orbit of a planet, as viewed from the Sun.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nohdIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnoʊd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
astronomy
The point where the orbit of a planet, as viewed from the Sun, intersects the ecliptic. The ascending and descending nodes refer respectively to the points where the planet moves from South to North and N to S; their respective symbols are ☊ and ☋.
astronomy
A point where an orbit crosses a plane
networking
A computer or other device attached to a network.
networkingcomputer science
Any computer that is hooked up to a computer network
A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling.
graph theory
A vertex or a leaf in a graph of a network, or other element in a data structure.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The point where the orbit of a planet, as viewed from the Sun, intersects the ecliptic. The ascending and descending nodes refer respectively to the points where the planet moves from South to North and N to S; their respective symbols are ☊ and ☋.
Used this way, node is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- lymph node , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use node
- “Each computer in the network acts as a single node.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Small gaps in the myelin sheath of medullated axons.
A node of specialized heart muscle located in the septal wall of the right atrium.
The point at which an orbit crosses the ecliptic plane going north.
The small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge.
The source of lymph and lymphocytes.
An acute disease of young children characterized by a rash and swollen lymph nodes and fever.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.