branch

branch

1. a secondary woody stem arising from the trunk or bough of a tree or the main stem of a shrub

2. a subdivision of the stem or root of any other plant

3. US any small stream

4. Maths a section of a curve separated from the rest of the curve by discontinuities or special points

5. Computing a departure from the normal sequence of programmed instructions into a separate program area

6. Physics an alternative route in an atomic or nuclear decay series

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

branch

[branch]

(botany)

A shoot or secondary stem on the trunk or a limb of a tree.

(computer science)

Any one of a number of instruction sequences in a program to which computer control is passed, depending upon the status of one or more variables.

jump

(electricity)

A portion of a network consisting of one or more two-terminal elements in series. Also known as arm.

(engineering)

In a piping system, a pipe that originates in or discharges into another pipe. Also known as branch line.

(hydrology)

A small stream that merges into another, generally bigger, stream.

(mathematics)

A complex function which is analytic in some domain and which takes on one of the values of a multiple-valued function in that domain.

A section of a curve that is separated from other sections of the curve by discontinuities, singular points, or other special points such as maxima and minima.

(nuclear physics)

A product resulting from one mode of decay of a radioactive nuclide that has two or more modes of decay.

(organic chemistry)

side chain

(science and technology)

An area of study representing an independent offshoot of a related basic discipline.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

branch

In plumbing, a pipe which originates in or discharges into a main, submain, riser, or stack.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

branch

(mathematics)

An edge in a tree.

branch

(programming)

A jump.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

branch

(1) In a low-level programming language, a statement that directs the computer to go to some other part of the program. In assembly languages, "branch" or "jump" instructions provide this capability. In high-level languages, a "goto" statement, as well as several other programming constructs, provide the equivalent of the branch. For example, "IF A EQUALS B GOTO MATCH_ROUTINE." See branch prediction and do loop.

(2) A connection between two blocks in a flowchart or two nodes in a network.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Branch

 

an extension of a river. A branch is produced by sedimentation in the form of an alluvial islet or island or by breaks in meanders. A myriad of branches is especially characteristic of deltas. Less frequently, branches are produced when a current must bypass nonerodible rock projecting from the river bottom. Depending on changes in a stream’s regime, the current shapes alternating branches. A branch may become the principal stream when the original stream gradually shallows and turns into a secondary branch.

Local Russian names for branches include volozhka (Volga), poloi (Severnaia Dvina), rechishche (Dnieper), starodon’e (Don), and girlo (Danube). Secondary branches are called channels.

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Branch

 

an organization that is a part of another organization, enterprise, or institution and that has the status of a juridical person. The branch performs some of the parent organization’s functions, frequently in a place other than the organization’s headquarters. In Soviet law, branches are established according to procedures specified in the legislation of the USSR and Union republics. In civil operations, a branch acts on behalf of the legal person that formed it; the authority to do so comes from a power of attorney given to the director of the branch (art. 31 of the Civil Code of the RSFSR). The status of a representative of a legal person differs from that of a branch in that the former always operates in a place other than the headquarters of the organization and performs some auxiliary, rather than primary, function or activity.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.