A branch is an instruction in a computer program that can cause a computer to begin executing a different instruction sequence and thus deviate from its default behavior of executing instructions in order. Branch (or branching, branched) may also refer to the act of switching execution to a different instruction sequence as a result of executing a branch instruction.

a. An area of specialized skill or knowledge, especially academic or vocational, that is related to but separate from other areas: the judicial branch of government; the branch of medicine called neurology. b. A division of a business or other organization. c. A division of a family, categorized by descent from a particular ancestor. d.

branch, leg, ramification noun. a part of a forked or branching shape. "he broke off one of the branches". Synonyms: branching, stage, ramification, wooden leg, pegleg, peg, arm, offshoot, subdivision, forking, complication, leg, outgrowth, fork, limb, offset. outgrowth, branch, offshoot, offset noun.