branch

Meanings

Noun

• 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.

Verb

• 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 discipline (a union member) at a branch meeting.

Origin

• 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), of unknown origin.
• Perhaps of Celtic origin, from a hypothetical Gaulish *vranca, from Proto-Indo-European. If so, then Indo-European cognates include Old Norse vró ("angle, corner"), Lithuanian rankà ("hand"), Old Church Slavonic рѫка ("hand"), Albanian rangë ("yardwork").
• The verb is from Middle English braunchen, from the noun.