pathname pathspec <file system> (Or "path") The specification of a node (file or directory) in a {hierarchical file system}. The path is usually specified by listing the nodes top-down, separating the directories by the {pathname separator} ("/" in {Unix}, "\" in {MS-DOS}). A pathname may be an {absolute pathname} or a {relative pathname}. The part of the pathname of a file after the last separator is called the {basename}. (1997-03-10)