# branch

Pronunciation: US say "BRANCH" /bɹænt͡ʃ/; UK say "BRAHNCH" /bɹɑːnt͡ʃ/

## Noun

1. A woody part growing from a tree's trunk or another branch, usually dividing into smaller offshoots.
   - Simple: A woody part growing from a tree's trunk or another branch, often splitting into smaller parts.
   - _The lowest branch hung so low we could touch its leaves._
   - _After the storm, fallen branches covered the whole path._
2. A local office, store, or unit that is one of several operated by the same organization.
   - Simple: One of the offices or stores that belong to a larger company or organization.
   - _The bank closed its smallest branch after years of declining business._
   - _Customers can return items at any of our branches nationwide._
3. A major division of a government or of a nation's armed forces, with its own separate powers or responsibilities.
   - Simple: One of the main parts of a government or a country's military, with its own powers and jobs.
   - _The Constitution splits power among three branches so that no single branch can govern alone._
   - _Recruiters from every branch of the armed forces set up tables at the career fair._
4. A distinct division within a field of business, knowledge, or research.
   - Simple: A part of a larger subject, business, or area of study.
   - _Algebra is a branch of mathematics concerned with symbols and the rules for manipulating them._
   - _She specializes in a relatively new branch of cognitive psychology._
5. One of the parts into which something divides, resembling the way a tree splits.
   - Simple: One of the parts that something splits into, the way a tree splits into limbs.
   - _The main artery divides into several branches that feed the lower limbs._
   - _Each branch of the cave system led to a different chamber._
8. A line of family descent kept distinct from other lines sharing the same ancestor, or any descendant in that line.
   - Simple: A part of a family that comes from one ancestor but is separate from the other parts.
   - _The American branch of the family lost touch with their European cousins._
   - _Genealogists traced three distinct branches back to a single medieval landowner._
9. A secondary railway line that diverges from a main route to serve a smaller area.
   - Simple: A smaller railway line that leaves the main line to reach other places.
   - _The railway company reopened the scenic branch for summer tourists._
   - _Freight still runs along two of the region's surviving branches._
10. A tributary creek or stream that empties into a larger river. *(dialectal, Southern US)*
   - Simple: A small stream that flows into a bigger river.
   - _Several small branches feed the river as it winds through the valley._
   - _The hikers followed the branch upstream to its source._
11. In version control, a copy of a project's files that is developed separately from the main line of work.
   - Simple: A separate copy of a project's files where changes can be made without affecting the main version.
   - _The team merged the feature branch back into the main line once testing passed._
   - _Each release has its own branch containing source code, scripts, and image assets._
12. A section of code that runs only when a particular condition is met.
   - Simple: A part of a program that runs only when a certain condition is true.
   - _The compiler optimizes the branch that runs most often._
   - _Unit tests should exercise both branches of the conditional._
15. In mathematics, any of the separate parts of a curve that stretch outward without limit.
   - Simple: One of the parts of a curve that keeps going outward without end.
   - _The two branches of the hyperbola approach their asymptotes but never touch them._
   - _One branch of the curve rises steeply while the other levels off._

## Verb

6. To divide into separate parts or subdivisions, or to cause something to do so.
   - Simple: To split into separate parts, or to cause something to split apart.
   - _Rivers often branch into smaller streams as they near the coast._
   - _The road runs north for a mile, then begins to branch into narrow farm tracks._
7. Of a tree or plant: to put out branches, or (of a limb) to grow outward from the trunk or a larger branch.
   - Simple: To grow branches, or for a branch to grow out from the trunk or a larger branch.
   - _Apple trees branch low, making the fruit easy to pick._
   - _The old oak had branched into a wide, spreading crown._
13. To jump to a different point in a program's instructions, typically when a conditional test decides which path is taken.
   - Simple: In a program, to jump to a different set of instructions, often based on a test.
   - _The processor will branch whenever the condition flag is set._
   - _If the input is invalid, the routine branches back to the prompt._
14. To strip a tree or log of its limbs.
   - Simple: To cut the limbs off a tree or large plant.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A local congregation of the LDS Church, usually smaller than a ward.
- (noun) In graph theory, a path whose inner vertices each have degree two and whose two end vertices have a degree other than two.
- (verb) To impose discipline on a trade union member at a meeting of the local branch.
- (noun) The certificate of qualification issued by Trinity House that entitles a pilot to take navigational charge of ships in British waters.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English branche, from Old French branche, from Late Latin branca ('footprint', later also 'paw, claw'), which is of unknown origin. It is perhaps of Celtic origin, and if so may be related to words like Lithuanian rankà ('hand') and Old Church Slavonic rǫka ('hand'). The verb comes from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/branch (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).