Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “filename” come from?

Filename is a modern English compound of file and name, ultimately derived from Latin filius meaning son, though the semantic connection to the Latin root is unclear.

filename (English): The name assigned to a file in a file system

Definitions

  1. The name assigned to a file in a file system

Ancestry of “filename”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishñameSynonym of name
2Middle Englishnamename
3Old Englishnamaname; noun
4Proto-West Germanicnamōname
5Proto-Germanicnamôname
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁nómn̥name
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃neh₃-to name
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃neh₃- →