readme
US/ˈɹidmi/
readme noun: a text file meant to be read before taking any significant action with the items it accompanies.
Noun
readme (plural readmes)
- A text file meant to be read before taking any significant action with the items it accompanies.
- Remember, there may be many readmes in many different locations within the patch itself. Search and read all readmes before proceeding.2004, Barbara Matthews, John Stouffer, Karen Brownfield, Installing, Upgrading and Maintaining Oracle Applications III
- At times, README.txt is vague; some sections have been blacked out, presumably on legal advice.2022 October 27, Simon Parkin, “README.txt by Chelsea Manning review – secrets and spies”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2023
- Synonyms:
- read-me file
Synonyms of readme
Forms of readme
| plural | readmes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | read me |
| alternative form | read-me |
Origin of readme
From read + me.
Questions about readme
- What does readme mean?
- Readme means a text file meant to be read before taking any significant action with the items it accompanies.
- What part of speech is readme?
- Readme is a noun.
- How do you pronounce readme?
- Readme is pronounced /ˈɹidmi/ (US).
- What is the plural of readme?
- The plural of readme is readmes.
Words near readme in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: readme (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-readme.ogg.
Cite this entry: “readme.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/readme. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.