From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
path
n 1: a course of conduct; "the path of virtue"; "we went our
separate ways"; "our paths in life led us apart"; "genius
usually follows a revolutionary path" [syn: way, path,
way of life]
2: a way especially designed for a particular use
3: an established line of travel or access [syn: path,
route, itinerary]
4: a line or route along which something travels or moves; "the
hurricane demolished houses in its path"; "the track of an
animal"; "the course of the river" [syn: path, track,
course]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
path \path\ (p[.a]th), n.; pl. paths (p[.a][th]z). [AS.
p[ae][eth], pa[eth]; akin to D. pad, G. pfad, of uncertain
origin; cf. Gr. pa`tos, Skr. patha, path. [root]21.]
1. A trodden way; a footway.
[1913 Webster]
The dewy paths of meadows we will tread. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. A way, course, or track, in which anything moves or has
moved; route; passage; an established way; as, the path of
a meteor, of a caravan, of a storm, of a pestilence. Also
used figuratively, of a course of life or action.
[1913 Webster]
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. --Ps.
xxv. 10.
[1913 Webster]
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. --Gray.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Path \Path\ (p[.a][th]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pathed
(p[.a][th]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Pathing.]
To make a path in, or on (something), or for (some one). [R.]
"Pathing young Henry's unadvised ways." --Drayton.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Path \Path\, v. i.
To walk or go. [R.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
path
1. <networking> A bang path or explicitly routed {Internet
address}; a node-by-node specification of a link between two
machines.
2. <file system> pathname.
3. <operating system> The list of directories the kernel
(under Unix) or the command interpreter (under MS-DOS)
searches for executables. It is stored as part of the
environment in both operating systems.
Other, similar constructs abound under Unix; the C
preprocessor, for example, uses such a search path to locate
"#include" files.
[Jargon File]
(1996-11-21)
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
path
n.
1. A bang path or explicitly routed Internet address; a node-by-node
specification of a link between two machines. Though these are now
obsolete as a form of addressing, they still show up in diagnostics
and trace headers occasionally (e.g. in NNTP headers).
2. [Unix] A filename, fully specified relative to the root directory
(as opposed to relative to the current directory; the latter is
sometimes called a relative path). This is also called a pathname.
3. [Unix and MS-DOS/Windows] The search path, an environment variable
specifying the directories in which the shell (COMMAND.COM, under
MS-DOS) should look for commands. Other, similar constructs abound
under Unix (for example, the C preprocessor has a search path it uses
in looking for #include files).