Filenames

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪəlneɪms/

Definitions

1. A designation used for digital files, consisting of a name and an extension that indicates the file type
2. An identifier that allows users to distinguish between various data files on a computer system
3. A unique label assigned to a file to streamline organization and retrieval within digital storage systems

Etymology: "Filenames" is the plural of "filename," a compound formed from "file" and "name." The first element comes from Old French "fil," a thread, which in Medieval Latin came to mean a thread used to string documents together. Clerks threaded papers onto a wire or cord so they could be kept in order, and a "file" came to mean any such ordered bundle of records. The second element is the ordinary Old English "nama." The combined word is a modern technical coinage. Its meaning comes from computing, where a file is a stored collection of data and its name is the label that lets a user or program find it again among many others. The sense is therefore a metaphor stacked on a metaphor: the record-keeper's thread gave us the file, and the label attached to each stored item gave us the filename.

Synonyms: file names, document names, directory names, label names, title names