path

English

Etymology

Old English pæþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (compare West Frisian paad, Dutch pad, German Pfad), from Scytho-Sarmatian (compare Avestan pɑntɑ, gen. pɑθɑ 'way', Old Persian pɑthi-), from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (compare English find). More at find.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /pæθ/
• (UK) IPA: /pɑːθ/, /pæθ/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɑːθ

Noun

path (plural paths)

1. a trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
2. a course taken.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.

3. (paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
4. a metaphorical course.
5. a method or direction of proceeding.
6. (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).
7. (topology) a continuous map f from the unit interval I = [0,1] to a topological space X.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• cross paths
• pathway
• footpath
• path of least resistance

Translations

a trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians

Albanian: shteg (sq) Arabic: طريق (ar) (Tariiq) m. Basque: bide (eu), bidexka (eu), bidezidor (eu) Catalan: senda (ca) f., sender (ca) m., sendera (ca) f., viarany (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 路徑 (cmn), 路径 (cmn) (lùjìng), 蹊徑 (cmn), 蹊径 (cmn) (xījìng), 道路 (cmn) (dàolù) Croatian: put (hr), staza (hr) Danish: sti (da) c., havegang (da) c., passage (da) c. Dutch: pad (nl) Esperanto: aleo (eo), pado (eo), vojo (eo) Estonian: rada (et) Finnish: polku (fi) French: sentier (fr) m. German: Pfad (de) m. Greek: μονοπάτι (el) (monopáti) n., ατραπός (el) (atrapós) f. Hungarian: ösvény (hu), út (hu) Icelandic: leið (is) f. Indonesian: jalan (id) Italian: sentiero (it) m.

Japanese: 通路 (ja) (つうろ, tsūro), 小道 (ja) (こみち, komichi); (in a rice field) 畦道 (ja) (あぜみち, aze-michi) Kazakh: жол (kk) Korean: 길 (gil) Kurdish: ڕێ, ڕێگه‌ Latgalian: styga Latvian: taka (lv) Lithuanian: takas (lt) Pashto: لار (ps) (lār) f. Polish: ścieżka (pl) f. Portuguese: trilha (pt) f., caminho (pt) m. Romanian: cărare (ro), potecă (ro) Russian: тропа (ru) (tropá) f., тропинка (ru) (tropínka) f., дорожка (ru) (doróžka) f. Scottish Gaelic: slighe (gd) f. Slovene: pot (sl) f., steza (sl) f. Spanish: senda (es) f., sendero (es) m. Swahili: ujia (sw) Swedish: stig (sv) n. Telugu: కాలిబాట (kaalibaaTa) West Frisian: paad (fy) n.

a course taken

Arabic: صراط (ar) (SiraaT) m., مسار (ar) (masaar) m. Danish: retning (da) c., vej (da) c. Finnish: polku (fi), reitti (fi), rata (fi) Greek: δρόμος (el) (drómos) m., διαδρομή (el) (diadromí) f. Japanese: 道 (ja) (みち, michi), 方針 (ja) (ほうしん, hōshin), 軌道 (ja) (きどう, kidō), 道筋 (ja) (みちすじ, michisuji) Kazakh: жол (kk)

Kurdish: ڕێ Romanian: drum (ro) n. Russian: путь (ru) (put’) m., дорога (ru) (doróga) f. Scottish Gaelic: slighe (gd) f. Slovene: pot (sl) f. Swahili: ujia (sw) Telugu: దారి (daari), మార్గం (maargam)

a metaphorical course

Danish: retning (da) c., vej (da) c. Estonian: teekond (et) Finnish: latu (fi), tola (fi), polku (fi) Greek: μονοπάτι (el) (monopáti) n. Italian: cammino (it) m. Japanese: 道 (ja) (みち, michi), 道筋 (ja) (みちすじ, michisuji), 方針 (ja) (ほうしん, hōshin) Kurdish: ڕێ, ڕێباز

Portuguese: caminho (pt) m. Romanian: mers (ro) n., curs (ro) n., drum (ro) n. Russian: путь (put’) m. Scottish Gaelic: slighe (gd) f. Slovene: pot (sl) f. Swahili: ujia (sw) Telugu: దారి (daari), మార్గం (maargam)

a method or direction of proceeding

Danish: vej (da) c. Estonian: ; suund (et) Finnish: suunta (fi), reitti (fi) Greek: δρόμος (el) (drómos) m. Italian: cammino (it) m. Japanese: 道 (ja) (みち, michi), 道筋 (ja) (みちすじ, michisuji)

Pashto: لار (ps) (lār) f. Russian: путь (put’) m., способ (spósob) m. Slovene: pot (sl) f. Swahili: ujia (sw) Telugu: దారి (daari), మార్గం (maargam)

graph theory: a sequence of vertices from one vertex to another

Danish: vej (da) c. Estonian: ahel (et) Finnish: polku (fi) German: Pfad (de) m. Hebrew: מסלול (he) (maslúl) m.

Italian: cammino (it) m. Japanese: 軌跡 (ja) (きせき, kiseki), パス (ja) (ぱす, pasu) Russian: путь (put’) m. Swahili: ujia (sw)

topology: a continuous map

German: Weg (de) m.

Hebrew: מסילה (he) (mesilá) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: shteg Basque: bide Catalan: senda f. Mandarin: 路径 (lùjìng) Serbo-Croatian: staza f. Dutch: pad n. Esperanto: irvojeto Ewe: afɔmɔ n. (trail) French: sentier m. German: Pfad m. Guaraní: tape Indonesian: jalur Interlingua: cammino, sentiero

Isthmus Zapotec: neza Latin: semita f., trames m. Norwegian: sti m. Portuguese: caminho m., senda f. Romanian: cale f., drum n. Slovak: cesta f. Spanish: camino m., sendero m. Tupinambá: apé (t-) Volapük: luveg Welsh: llwybr m.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, (DRAFT REVISION June 2005)

Anagrams

• phat
• Ptah