also antinode, 1872, "point of a vibrating string where the amplitude is greatest," from anti- + node. Later applied to other wave systems; at the anti-node the two waves cancel each other out.
Entries linking to anti-node
anti-
word-forming element of Greek origin meaning "against, opposed to, opposite of, instead," shortened to ant- before vowels and -h-, from Old French anti- and directly from Latin anti-, from Greek anti (prep.) "over, against, opposite; instead, in the place of; as good as; at the price of; for the sake of; compared with; in opposition to; in return; counter-," from PIE *anti "against," also "in front of, before" (from root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before"), which became anti- in Italian (hence antipasto) and French.
It is cognate with Sanskrit anti "over, against," and Old English and- (the first element in answer). A common compounding element in Greek, in some combinations it became anth- for euphonic reasons. It appears in some words in Middle English but was not commonly used in English word formations until modern times. In a few English words (anticipate, antique) it represents Latin ante.
In noun compounds where it has the sense of "opposed to, opposite" (Antichrist, anti-communist) the accent remains on the anti-; in adjectives where it retains its old prepositional sense "against, opposed to," the accent remains on the other element (anti-Christian, anti-slavery).
node n.
early 15c., "a knot or lump," from Latin nodus "knot" (from PIE root *ned- "to bind, tie"). Originally borrowed c. 1400 in Latin form, meaning "lump in the flesh." Meaning "point of intersection" (originally in astronomy, of planetary orbits with the ecliptic) is recorded from 1660s.