Filename

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term for the name assigned to a computer document or data file ; a specific identifier that allows users and systems to recognize and manage digital files ; a text label used to distinguish electronic files from one another
2. Refers to the designation given to a stored data item on a computer ; denotes the unique textual marker used to catalog and reference digital documents ; identifies and separates files by assigning a written tag in electronic systems
3. Signifies the wording by which a digital record is titled and accessed ; indicates the chosen descriptive label that organizes files within a system ; means the particular string of characters that marks and differentiates computer files

Etymology: "Filename" is a plain compound: "file" joined to "name," with the two words fused into one. The "file" here is the computing sense, a named collection of data stored on a disk, which borrows the older meaning of a file as a tool or a set of papers kept in order. Its "name" is the label that tells the system and the user which stored item is which. The word is a compound noun, so its origin is simply the two parts put together, and its meaning is the transparent sum of them: the name given to a file. Its literal sense is the same as its everyday one, with no shift in meaning to trace.

Synonyms: file name, document name, data file name