nodal

Of the nature of, or relating to, a node.

If the sexual component [in a prosecutorial case] cannot be construed, it must be constructed. It is the nodal point of the prosecutor's comprehension. Up to that point, everything […] may perplex or disturb. But once the sexuality has been imputed, everything that seemed normal can now be made abnormal and perverse.

Chapter 4 is nodal to the book, not simply because it stands at its very middle. It engages with Kaiserkritik but also it connects the previous chapter’s discussion of working method and sources to what follows in Chapter 5, where Zonaras’ interest in Roman antiquity is discussed in greater detail.

Of or relating to the nodus.

A surname from Spanish.