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n. 1. a. A knob, knot, protuberance, or swelling. b. Medicine A small, well-defined mass of tissue that is either normal or pathological, as a lymph node or a node at an arthritic joint. 2. a. A point or area where two lines, paths, or parts intersect or branch off: "The nodes, or branching points, are usually demarcated by sets of one or more new, evolutionary characters that typify all taxa" (Pat Shipley). b. A focal point or a point of interaction: "Inside the hospital, she became a node of gossip, despite being unable to communicate in the usual way" (Oliver Sacks). 3. a. Botany The point on a stem where a leaf is attached or has been attached; a joint. b. See knot1. 4. Physics A point or region of virtually zero amplitude in a wave or periodic system. 5. Mathematics The point at which a continuous curve crosses itself. 6. Computers A terminal in a computer network. 7. Astronomy a. Either of two diametrically opposite points at which the orbit of a planet intersects the ecliptic. b. Either of two points at which the orbit of a satellite intersects the orbital plane of a planet. [Middle English, lump in the flesh, from Latin nōdus, knot; see ned- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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