(CNAME) A host' s official name as opposed to an alias.The official name is the first hostname listed for its {Internet address} in the hostname database, {/etc/hosts} or the Network Information Service (NIS) map hosts.byaddr ("hosts" for short).A host with multiple network interfaces may have more than one Internet address, each with its own canonical name (and zero or more aliases).You can find a host' s canonical name using nslookup if you sayset querytype=CNAMEand then type a hostname.(1994-11-29)