dirname

Calculates the parent directory of a given file or directory path.

Calculate the parent directory of a given path:

dirname {{path/to/file_or_directory}}

Calculate the parent directory of multiple paths:

dirname {{path/to/file_a}} {{path/to/directory_b}}

Delimit output with a NUL character instead of a newline (useful when combining with xargs):

dirname --zero {{path/to/directory_a}} {{path/to/file_b}}