An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials (chemicals) depending on the type of battery.
Michael Faraday coined the term " electrode" in 1833; the word recalls the Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, "amber") and ὁδός (hodós, "path, way").
The electrophore, invented by Johan Wilcke in 1762, was an early version of an electrode used to study static electricity.[1]