absolute path
also: full path, absolute pathname
A file or directory path that starts with a forward slash (/) and specifies the complete location from the root of the filesystem, independent of the current working directory.
An absolute path provides the complete route to a file or directory by starting at the root of the filesystem (/) and listing every directory down to the target. It works the same way regardless of where you currently are in the filesystem.
For example, /home/alice/documents/report.txt is an absolute path. Whether you're in /tmp or /var/log, this path always refers to the same file.
This contrasts with relative paths, which are interpreted based on your current working directory. Absolute paths are useful in scripts and commands that need to reference files consistently, as they don't depend on context.