Chapter 2: Definitions

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return status

A synonym for exit status. signal

A mechanism by which a process may be notified by the kernel of an event occurring in the system. special builtin

A shell builtin command that has been classified as special by the posix stan- dard. token

A sequence of characters considered a single unit by the shell. It is either a word or an operator. word

A sequence of characters treated as a unit by the shell. Words may not include unquoted metacharacters.