unlink

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to remove or break a connection between linked people, accounts, objects, or pieces of information

   You can unlink the shared calendar without deleting either account.

2. 2
   verb

   in computing, to remove a directory link to a file, normally causing the file to be deleted when no links remain

   The cleanup process will unlink the temporary file after closing it.

From un- in its reversing sense + link. Link came through Middle English linke or lenke from Germanic words for a ring or chain bond. Unlink therefore first meant separating joined links; digital uses preserve that metaphor. In Unix terminology, unlink removes a filename's link to a file rather than directly erasing its stored data.

Topics