An electronic component or vacuum tube containing two diodes, allowing it to perform rectification or signal detection in early radio and electronic circuits.
From duo, 'two' plus diode (from di-, 'two' and -ode, from Greek hodos, 'way' or 'path'). The term combines Latin and Greek roots to describe an electronic device with two diode functions.
Early radios used vacuum tube duodiodes instead of modern solid-state diodes—these glass tubes glowed when powered on, and engineers had to carefully balance the heat they generated, which is why old radios took time to 'warm up' before working properly.
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