branch point

American  

noun

1. Electricity. a point in an electric network at which three or more conductors meet.

2. Mathematics. a point such that analytic continuation of a given function of a complex variable in a small neighborhood of the point produces a different functional value at the point.

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Etymology

Origin of branch point

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Organisms in two taxa may have split apart at a specific branch point, but neither taxa gave rise to the other.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

When two lineages stem from the same branch point, they are sister taxa.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Clades must include the ancestral species and all of the descendants from a branch point.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

At each branch point, organisms with different characters are placed in different groups.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

And on our small planet, this moment in history is a historical branch point as profound as the confrontation of the Ionian scientists with the mystics 2,500 years ago.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan