Term of the Moment
broadcast traffic
Definition: dot file
A Unix file name that begins with a period, which designates the file as hidden from normal view. In Unix, the ls command displays the file names in the current folder. The -a switch shows the hidden files with dot prefixes.
Show Hidden Dot Files
In this macOS example, the ls commands (blue arrows) display the contents of the root directory. The -a parameter in the bottom example shows all the dot files that were hidden in the top example.