A named pipe, also known as a FIFO (first-in-first-out), is a type of interprocess communication mechanism in Unix-like operating systems. It allows two or more processes to communicate with each other by sharing a common channel. However, there are other words or phrases used to describe this mechanism. One of them is a "named conduit," which can imply a conduit or passageway between two or more processes. Another synonym is a "named socket," which can refer to a special file used for communication between a client and a server. Lastly, a "message queue" is also similar to a named pipe in that it is a way for processes to exchange data with one another.