Definition of BRANCH

branch

Plural: branches

Noun

  • a division of some larger or more complex organization
    • "a branch of Congress"
    • "botany is a branch of biology"
    • "the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages"
  • a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant
  • a part of a forked or branching shape
    • "he broke off one of the branches"
  • a natural consequence of development
  • a stream or river connected to a larger one
  • any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm
    • "a branch of the sewer"
  • The woody part of a tree arising from the trunk and usually dividing.
  • Any of the parts of something that divides like the branch of a tree.
  • A creek or stream which flows into a larger river.
  • One of the portions of a curve that extends outwards to an indefinitely great distance.
  • A location of an organization with several locations.
  • A line of family descent, in distinction from some other line or lines from the same stock; any descendant in such a line.
  • A local congregation of the LDS Church that is not large enough to form a ward; see Wikipedia article on ward in LDS church.
  • An area in business or of knowledge, research.
  • A certificate given by Trinity House to a pilot qualified to take navigational control of a ship in British waters.
  • A sequence of code that is conditionally executed.
  • A group of related files in a source control system, including for example source code, build scripts, and media such as images.
  • A branch line.
  • A path of vertices of degree 2, ending at vertices whose degree is not 2.

Verb

Verb Forms: branched, branching, branches

  • To divide into separate parts or extensions; to spread out.
  • grow and send out branches or branch-like structures
  • divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
  • To arise from the trunk or a larger branch of a tree.
  • To produce branches.
  • To (cause to) divide into separate parts or subdivisions.
  • To jump to a different location in a program, especially as the result of a conditional statement.
  • To strip of branches.
  • To discipline (a union member) at a branch meeting.

Examples

  • branch water
  • His strategy was to BRANCH his words across the board, covering many double letter scores.
  • Our main branch is downtown, and we have branches in all major suburbs.
  • the branch of an antler, a chandelier, or a railway
  • the branches of a hyperbola
  • the English branch of a family

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English branche, braunche, bronche, from Old French branche, branke, from Late Latin branca (“footprint”, later also “paw, claw”) (whence Middle High German pranke, German Pranke (“paw”)), of unknown origin.
Perhaps of Celtic origin, from a hypothetical Gaulish *vranca, from Proto-Indo-European *wrónk-eh₂. If so, then Indo-European cognates include Old Norse rá, vró (“angle, corner”), and possibly Lithuanian rankà (“hand”), Old Church Slavonic рѫка (rǫka, “hand”), Albanian rangë (“yardwork”).
The verb is from Middle English braunchen, from the noun.

Scrabble Score: 13

branch: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
branch: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
branch: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

branch: valid Words With Friends Word