Electr. [a. Gr. ἀνιόν (a thing) going up, neut. of pr. pple. of ἀνι-έναι to go up, f. ἀνά up + ἰ go.] The name given by Faraday to an electro-negative element, which in electro-chemical decompositions is evolved at the anode or positive pole of the battery. Opposed to cation.
1834. Faraday, Res. Electr. (1849), I. 198. I propose to distinguish such bodies by calling those anions which go to the anode of the decomposing body.
1870. Ferguson, Electr., 162. In acids, hydrogen forms the cation, and the acid radical the other constituent, the anion.
