path

See also: -path and path-

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English path, peth, from Old English pæþ (“path, track”), from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”) (compare West Frisian paad, Dutch pad, German Pfad), Greek πατέω (patéo) / πάτος (pátos), from Scythian (compare Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬥𐬙𐬀‎ (panta, “way”), 𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬀‎ (paθa, genitive), Old Persian [script needed] (pathi-)), from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (compare English find).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑːθ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [pʰɑːθ]
  • (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): [pʰäːθ~pʰɐːθ]
• IPA^(key): /pæθ/
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): [pʰæθ~pʰɛəθ~pʰeəθ]
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): [pʰaθ~pʰæθ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːθ, -æθ

Noun

path (plural paths)

1. A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
   • John Dryden

     The dewy paths of meadows we will tread.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

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.

   the path of a meteor, of a caravan, or of a storm

3. (paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
4. A metaphorical course.
5. A method or direction of proceeding.
   • Bible, Psalms xxv. 10

     All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.

   • Gray

     The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

6. (computing) A human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL
7. (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).
8. (topology) A continuous map $f$ from the unit interval $I=[0,1]$ to a topological space $X$.

Synonyms

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

Hypernyms

Hypernyms of path (noun)

• bridle path
• cross paths

• cycle path

• footpath

• subpath

Derived terms

Terms derived from path (noun)

• path of least resistance

• pathway

Translations

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

• Albanian: shteg (sq)
• Arabic: طَرِيق‎‎ (ar) m (ṭarīq), صِرَاط‎‎ m (ṣirāṭ)
• Aromanian: cãrari f
• Bashkir: һуҡмаҡ (huqmaq)
• Basque: bide (eu), bidexka, bidezidor
• Belarusian: сце́жка f (scjéžka)
• Bulgarian: път (bg) m (pǎt), пътека (bg) f (pǎteka)
• Catalan: sender m, camí (ca) m
• Chichewa: njira
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 路徑 (zh), 路径 (zh) (lùjìng), 蹊徑 (zh), 蹊径 (zh) (xījìng), 道路 (zh) (dàolù)

• Czech: stezka (cs), pěšina (cs)
• Danish: sti (da) c, havegang c, passage (da) c
• Dutch: pad (nl) n
• Esperanto: aleo (eo), pado (eo), vojo (eo)
• Estonian: rada
• Faroese: leið f, gøta f
• Finnish: polku (fi)
• French: sentier (fr) m, chemin (fr) m
• Galician: senda f, sendeiro (gl) m, corredoira f, camiño (gl) m, carreiro m
• Georgian: ბილიკი (biliḳi)
• German: Pfad (de) m
• Greek: μονοπάτι (el) n (monopáti), ατραπός (el) f (atrapós)
• Haitian Creole: chemen
• Hebrew: דֶּרֶךְ‎‎ (he) f (dérekh)
• Hindi: पथ (hi) (path)
• 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 (こみち, komichi), (in a rice field) 畦道 (ja) (あぜみち, aze-michi)
• Karakalpak: soqpaq
• Kazakh: жол (kk) (jol)
• Khmer: ផ្លូវ (km) (pləv), ផ្លូវជើង (pləv cəəng), ផ្លូវលំ (pləv lum)
• Korean: 길 (ko) (gil)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ڕێ‎‎ (ku), ڕێگه‌‎‎

• Lao: please add this translation if you can

• Latgalian: styga
• Latvian: taka (lv)
• Ligurian: camìn m
• Lithuanian: takas
• Macedonian: пат m (pat)
• Malay: jalan (ms)
• Marathi: पथ (path)
• Mwani: njira
• Norman: sente f (Jersey), ch'min m (Guernsey), c'mîn m (Jersey)
• Occitan: camin (oc) m, sendièr m, carrairon (oc) m
• Old Prussian: lunki f
• Pashto: لار‎‎ (ps) f (lār)
• Pitjantjatjara: iwara
• Polish: ścieżka (pl) f
• Portuguese: trilha (pt) f, caminho (pt) m, senda (pt) f
• Romanian: cărare (ro), potecă (ro)
• Russian: тропа́ (ru) f (tropá), тропи́нка (ru) f (tropínka), доро́жка (ru) f (doróžka), стезя́ (ru) f (stezjá) (poetic)
• Sanskrit: पथ (sa) (patha), पन्थ m (pantha)
• Scottish Gaelic: slighe f
• Serbo-Croatian: put (sh), staza (sh)
• Slovak: cestička (sk) f
• Slovene: pot (sl) f, steza (sl) f
• Spanish: senda (es) f, sendero (es) m
• Swahili: ujia (sw)
• Swedish: stig (sv) n
• Tamil: பாதை (ta) (pātai)
• Telugu: కాలిబాట (te) (kālibāṭa)
• Thai: รอย (th) (rɔɔi), ทาง (th) (taang)
• Turkish: patika (tr)
• Ukrainian: сте́жка f (stéžka), стежи́на f (stežýna), стежи́нка f (stežýnka)
• Urdu: پتھ‎‎ (path)
• Venetian: troi
• Vietnamese: đường mòn
• Volapük: luveg (vo)
• Walloon: pî-sinte (wa) f, pazea (wa) m
• Welsh: llwybr (cy) m
• West Frisian: paad n
• Yiddish: וועג‎‎ m (veg), וואַרע‎‎ f (vare), דרך‎‎ f (derekh)

a course taken

• Arabic: صِرَاط‎‎ m (ṣirāṭ), مَسَار‎‎ m (masār)
• Catalan: camí (ca) m
• Chichewa: njira
• Danish: retning (da) c, vej (da) c
• Dutch: weg (nl) m
• Faroese: leið f
• Finnish: polku (fi), reitti (fi), rata (fi)
• French: chemin (fr) m
• Georgian: გზა (gza)
• German: Weg (de) m
• Greek: δρόμος (el) m (drómos), διαδρομή (el) f (diadromí)
• 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) (jol)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ڕێ‎‎ (ku)

• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Ligurian: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: jalan (ms)
• Norman: ch'min m (Guernsey), c'mîn m (c'mîn)
• Portuguese: caminho (pt) m
• Romanian: drum (ro) n
• Russian: путь (ru) m (putʹ), доро́га (ru) f (doróga), стезя́ (ru) f (stezjá) (poetic)
• Scottish Gaelic: slighe f
• Slovene: pot (sl) f
• Swahili: ujia (sw)
• Swedish: väg (sv), kurs (sv), färdriktning (sv)
• Telugu: దారి (te) (dāri), మార్గం (te) (mārgaṃ)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yol (tr)
• Vietnamese: đường đi (vi), đường lối, lối (vi), lối đi
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

a metaphorical course

• Catalan: camí (ca) m
• Danish: retning (da) c, vej (da) c
• Estonian: teekond
• Finnish: latu (fi), tola (fi), polku (fi)
• German: Weg (de) m
• Greek: μονοπάτι (el) n (monopáti)
• 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:

  Sorani: ڕێ‎‎ (ku), ڕێباز‎‎ (ku)

• Malay: jalan (ms)

• Portuguese: caminho (pt) m
• Romanian: mers (ro) n, curs (ro) n, drum (ro) n
• Russian: путь (ru) m (putʹ), стезя́ (ru) f (stezjá)
• Sanskrit: पन्थ m (pantha)
• Scottish Gaelic: slighe f
• Slovene: pot (sl) f
• Swahili: ujia (sw)
• Telugu: దారి (te) (dāri), మార్గం (te) (mārgaṃ)
• Turkish: yol (tr)
• Vietnamese: con đường, nẻo (vi), lối đi

a method or direction of proceeding

• Danish: vej (da) c
• Estonian: , suund (et)
• Finnish: suunta (fi), reitti (fi)
• French: sentier (fr) m
• German: Weg (de) m, Pfad (de) m
• Greek: δρόμος (el) m (drómos)
• Haitian Creole: chemen
• Italian: cammino (it) m
• Japanese: 道 (ja) (みち, michi), 道筋 (ja) (みちすじ, michisuji)
• Malay: jalan (ms)

• Ngazidja Comorian: soo class 5/6
• Pashto: لار‎‎ (ps) f (lār)
• Portuguese: caminho (pt)
• Russian: путь (ru) m (putʹ), спо́соб (ru) m (spósob)
• Slovene: pot (sl) f
• Swahili: ujia (sw)
• Telugu: దారి (te) (dāri), మార్గం (te) (mārgaṃ)
• Turkish: yol (tr)
• Vietnamese: con đường, nẻo (vi), lối đi
• Walloon: tchimin (wa) m

computing: a specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 路徑 (zh), 路径 (zh) (lùjìng)

• Czech: cesta (cs) f
• Danish: sti (da) c
• Dutch: pad (nl) n
• Finnish: polku (fi)
• French: chemin (fr) m
• German: Pfad (de) m
• Indonesian: jalur (id)
• Italian: percorso (it) m

• Japanese: パス (pasu)
• Korean: 패스 (ko) (paeseu)
• Polish: ścieżka (pl) f
• Portuguese: endereço (pt) m
• Russian: путь (ru) m (putʹ)
• Spanish: ruta (es) f
• Swedish: sökväg (sv) c
• Turkish: yol (tr)
• Vietnamese: đường dẫn
• Walloon: tchimin (wa) m

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

• Danish: vej (da) c
• Dutch: pad (nl) n
• Estonian: ahel
• Finnish: polku (fi)
• German: Pfad (de) m
• Hebrew: מסלול‎‎ (he) m (maslúl)

• Italian: cammino (it) m
• Japanese: 軌跡 (ja) (きせき, kiseki), パス (ぱす, pasu)
• Portuguese: caminho (pt) m
• Russian: путь (ru) m (putʹ)
• Swahili: ujia (sw)
• Vietnamese: bước (vi), đường đi (vi)

topology: a continuous map

• Dutch: pad (nl) n
• German: Weg (de) m

• Hebrew: מסילה‎‎ f (mesilá)
• Vietnamese: quỹ đạo (vi)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} shteg
• Basque: ^{(please verify)} bide (eu)
• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} senda f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} irvojeto
• Ewe: (trail) ^{(please verify)} afɔmɔ n
• German: ^{(please verify)} Pfad (de) m
• Guaraní: ^{(please verify)} tape
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} jalur (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} cammino, ^{(please verify)} sentiero
• Isthmus Zapotec: ^{(please verify)} neza

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} semita f, ^{(please verify)} trames m
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 路径 (zh) (lùjìng)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} sti (no) m
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} cale (ro) f, ^{(please verify)} drum (ro) n
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} staza (sh) f
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} cesta f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} camino (es) m, ^{(please verify)} sendero (es) m
• Tupinambá: (t-) ^{(please verify)} apé
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} luveg (vo)
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} llwybr (cy) m

Verb

path (third-person singular simple present paths, present participle pathing, simple past and past participle pathed)

1. (transitive) To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).
   • Drayton

     pathing young Henry's unadvised ways

Etymology 2

Shortening.

Noun

path (uncountable)

1. (medicine, abbreviation) Pathology.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision; June 2005]

Anagrams

• Ptah, phat