dotfile

plural dotfiles

1. UnixcomputingA file or directory whose name begins with a dot (period or full stop), typically hidden from view and sometimes used to store configuration settings.

   There is also a dotfile generator, which you can use to create dotfiles for many different programs until you get the hang of it.

   2003, James Lee, Brent Ware, Open source Web development with LAMP

   1 more example

   In general, a user-defined environment variable can be an effective design choice when the value changes often enough to make editing a dotfile each time […]

   2004, Eric S. Raymond, The art of Unix programming