Meaning

noun a division of some larger or more complex organization

noun a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant

noun a part of a forked or branching shape

originFrom Middle English branche, braunche, bronche, from Old French branche, branke, from Late Latin branca (“footprint”, later also “paw, claw”) (whence Middle High German pranke, German Pranke (“paw”)), of unknown origin. Perhaps of Celtic origin, from a hypothetical Gaulish *vranca, from Proto-Indo-European *wrónk-eh₂. If so, then Indo-European cognates include Old Norse rá, vró (“angle, corner”),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0