Every file and directory in the file system can be identified by a complete list of the names of the directories that are on the route from the root directory to that file or directory. ... usr/local/bin/ue . This gives the full pathname starting at the root directory and going down through the directories usr , local and bin to the file ue - the program for the MicroEMACS editor. You can picture the full pathname as looking like this: . root) | tmp usr | ... Relative pathnames . ...