file type

n. A category of files based on content; a genre. A category of files based on physical or formal characteristics; a format.

Notes

File types1 include correspondence, case files, reading files, tickler files, and others. - File types2 is primarily used in connection with computer files; the MIME standard defines different file types, including text/html, text/plain, text/css, multipart/form-data, application/pdf, and many others.