path

English Online Dictionary. What means path‎? What does path mean?

English

Etymology 1

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 could be borrowed from Iranian, from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs, from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s, from the root *pent- (“to pass”), but many go against it and it is far from being universally accepted. [1]

Germanic cognates include West Frisian paad, Dutch pad, German Pfad. Indo-Iranian cognates could be Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧‎𐬙𐬃 (paṇ‎tā̊, “way”), Old Persian 𐎱𐎰 (p-θ /⁠paθi⁠/)), Sanskrit पन्था (panthā). See also English find). Doublet of panth.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑːθ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [pʰɑːθ]
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [pʰäːθ], [pʰɐːθ]
• IPA^(key): /pæθ/
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): [pʰæθ], [pʰɛəθ], [pʰeəθ]
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): [pʰaθ], [pʰæθ]
• Rhymes: -ɑːθ, -æθ

Noun

path (plural paths)

2. A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
4. A course taken.
5. A metaphorical course or route; progress.
6. A method or direction of proceeding.
7. (paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
9. (computing) 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.

   Hyponym: filepath

11. (graph theory) 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).
12. (topology) A continuous map ${displaystyle f}$ from the unit interval ${displaystyle I=[0,1]}$ to a topological space ${displaystyle X}$.
13. (rail transport) A slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.

Synonyms

• (1): track, trail; see also Thesaurus:way

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

path (third-person singular simple present paths, present participle pathing, simple past and past participle pathed)

1. (transitive) To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).
2. (computing, intransitive) To navigate through a file system directory tree (to a desired file or folder).

Etymology 2

Shortening.

Noun

path (uncountable)

1. (medicine, abbreviation) Pathology.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision; June 2005]
• “path”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• Anatoly Liberman (2015 November 4) “The Oxford Etymologist”, in OUPblog‎^[2], Oxford University Press, archived from the original on 23 November 2024, Pathfinders

Anagrams

• Ptah, phat

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English pæþ, from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz, from an Iranian language, from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs.

Alternative forms

• paath, paaþ, pathe, paththe, paþ, paþþe
• pað, peþ (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paθ/, /paːθ/
• (early, dialectal) IPA^(key): /pɛθ/
• Rhymes: -aθ

Noun

path (plural pathes)

1. An informal or unpaved path or trail; a track.
2. A choice or way of living; a doctrine.
3. (rare, Late Middle English) A course or route.
4. (rare, Late Middle English) A vessel or vein.

Derived terms

• bypath
• pathen
• pathynge

Descendants

• English: path
• Scots: peth, paith

References

• “pā̆th, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-08.

Etymology 2

Verb

path

1. Alternative form of pathen