He would avoid the word 'current' if he could.[2] He does abandon the word 'poles' as applied to the ends of a decomposing cell, because it suggests the idea of attraction, substituting for it the perfectly natural term Electrodes.

He applied the term Electrolyte to every substance which can be decomposed by the current, and the act of decomposition he called Electrolysis.

All these terms have become current in science.

He called the positive electrode the Anode, and the negative one the Cathode, but these terms, though frequently used, have not enjoyed the same currency as the others.

The terms Anion and Cation, which he applied to the constituents of the decomposed electrolyte, and the term Ion, which included both anions and cations, are still less frequently employed.
Faraday now passes from terminology to research; he sees the necessity of quantitative determinations, and seeks to supply himself with a measure of voltaic electricity.