ode

Here is a root that's really two roots wearing the same English coat. Words ending in -ode or -ody come from two completely different Greek words that happened to land on the same spelling.

Source one: hodos = "way, path, road." This is the "way" family.

- electrode = elektron (amber/electricity) + hodos (way) = "the path the electric current travels." Michael Faraday coined it in the 1830s for the terminal where current enters or leaves.
- episode / episodic = epi (upon) + (eis)hodos (entry) = literally "a coming in upon," originally an actor's entrance between choral songs in Greek drama. An episode is one self-contained "entry" in a larger story; episodic means made of such loosely linked entries.

Source two: ōidē = "song." This is the "song" family (and it's the bigger surprise, because it has nothing to do with paths).

- ode = ōidē itself = a song, now a dignified lyric poem. "Ode to Joy" is literally "song to joy."
- parody = para (beside) + ōidē (song) = a "song sung alongside" the original — an imitation that twists it for comic effect.
- melodic = melos (tune) + ōidē (song) → melōidia → melody. Melodic means having a pleasant tune. The -od- in melody is song, not path.

So why are they grouped under one slug? Purely because English flattened both Greek endings into the same shape. It's worth knowing the split so you don't try to find "a path" inside ode or melody, or "a song" inside electrode. When you meet a new -ode word, ask: is this about a route (hodos) or a song (ōidē)? Electrode and episode take the road; ode, parody and melody take the song.