English Explanatory Dictionary

path

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
  2. A course taken.
  3. A metaphorical course or route; progress.
  4. A method or direction of proceeding.
  5. A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
  6. A human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL.
  7. A sequence of vertices from one vertex to another using the arcs (edges). A path does not visit the same vertex more than once (unless it is a closed path, where only the first and the last vertex are the same).
  8. A continuous map f from the unit interval I=[0,1] to a topological space X.
  9. A slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.
verb
  1. To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).
  2. To navigate through a file system directory tree (to a desired file or folder).
  3. To pathfind.
noun
  1. Pathology.

Pronunciation

/pɑːθ/ [pʰɑːθ] [pʰäːθ] [pʰɐːθ] /pɑt̪ʰ/ [päːt̪ʰ] /pæθ/ [pʰæθ] [pʰɛəθ] [pʰeəθ] [pʰaθ] en-us-path.ogg En-uk-a path.ogg

Word forms

path paths pathing pathed

Etymology

From Middle English path, peth, from Old English pæþ (“path, track”), from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”). The Proto-Germanic term is possibly borrowed from Iranian, from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs, from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s, from the root *pent- (“to pass”), but this is disputed. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Paad, Pad (“path”), West Frisian paad (“path”), Dutch pad (“path”), German Pfad (“path”), German Low German Padd (“path”), Luxembourgish Pad (“path”). Indo-Iranian cognates could be Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬃 (paṇtā̊, “way”), Old Persian 𐎱𐎰 (p-θ /⁠paθi⁠/), Hindi पथ (path), Sanskrit पन्था (panthā, “path”). See also English find. Doublet of panth.

Synonyms

trail track

Derived words

airpath basepath bridlepath bridle-path build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door by-path cart path cess path cowpath cross someone's path cyberpath drag path edgepath eigenpath flarepath flowpath garden-path garden path sentence garden-path sentence halterpath heelpath hotpath hyperpath keypath lead someone down the garden path, lead someone up the garden path lifepath lightpath moonpath multipath null path length off the beaten path path analysis pathbreaker pathbreaking path cascade path-connected path dependence path dependency pather pathfind pathfinder pathfinding pathful path integral formalism pathion path length pathless pathlet pathlike pathline path loss pathmaker pathmaster pathname path of least resistance path of totality path rush pathside path tracer path tracing
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