diff --git a/doc/api/path.md b/doc/api/path.md
index 0bbb5b80c57ef3..5b66e54f9393d2 100644
--- a/doc/api/path.md
+++ b/doc/api/path.md
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ example, `path.resolve('C:\\')` can potentially return a different result than
 `path.resolve('C:')`. For more information, see
 [this MSDN page][MSDN-Rel-Path].
 
-## `path.basename(path[, ext])`
+## `path.basename(path[, suffix])`
 
 <!-- YAML
 added: v0.1.25
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ changes:
 -->
 
 * `path` {string}
-* `ext` {string} An optional file extension
+* `suffix` {string} An optional suffix to remove
 * Returns: {string}
 
 The `path.basename()` method returns the last portion of a `path`, similar to
-the Unix `basename` command. Trailing directory separators are ignored, see
-[`path.sep`][].
+the Unix `basename` command. Trailing [directory separators][`path.sep`] are
+ignored.
 
 ```js
 path.basename('/foo/bar/baz/asdf/quux.html');
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ path.win32.basename('C:\\foo.HTML', '.html');
 // Returns: 'foo.HTML'
 ```
 
-A [`TypeError`][] is thrown if `path` is not a string or if `ext` is given
+A [`TypeError`][] is thrown if `path` is not a string or if `suffix` is given
 and is not a string.
 
 ## `path.delimiter`
diff --git a/lib/path.js b/lib/path.js
index fd95361dd02842..e662e50d6c6b4b 100644
--- a/lib/path.js
+++ b/lib/path.js
@@ -743,12 +743,12 @@ const win32 = {
 
   /**
    * @param {string} path
-   * @param {string} [ext]
+   * @param {string} [suffix]
    * @returns {string}
    */
-  basename(path, ext) {
-    if (ext !== undefined)
-      validateString(ext, 'ext');
+  basename(path, suffix) {
+    if (suffix !== undefined)
+      validateString(suffix, 'ext');
     validateString(path, 'path');
     let start = 0;
     let end = -1;
@@ -763,10 +763,10 @@ const win32 = {
       start = 2;
     }
 
-    if (ext !== undefined && ext.length > 0 && ext.length <= path.length) {
-      if (ext === path)
+    if (suffix !== undefined && suffix.length > 0 && suffix.length <= path.length) {
+      if (suffix === path)
         return '';
-      let extIdx = ext.length - 1;
+      let extIdx = suffix.length - 1;
       let firstNonSlashEnd = -1;
       for (let i = path.length - 1; i >= start; --i) {
         const code = StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(path, i);
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ const win32 = {
           }
           if (extIdx >= 0) {
             // Try to match the explicit extension
-            if (code === StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(ext, extIdx)) {
+            if (code === StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(suffix, extIdx)) {
               if (--extIdx === -1) {
                 // We matched the extension, so mark this as the end of our path
                 // component
@@ -1300,22 +1300,22 @@ const posix = {
 
   /**
    * @param {string} path
-   * @param {string} [ext]
+   * @param {string} [suffix]
    * @returns {string}
    */
-  basename(path, ext) {
-    if (ext !== undefined)
-      validateString(ext, 'ext');
+  basename(path, suffix) {
+    if (suffix !== undefined)
+      validateString(suffix, 'ext');
     validateString(path, 'path');
 
     let start = 0;
     let end = -1;
     let matchedSlash = true;
 
-    if (ext !== undefined && ext.length > 0 && ext.length <= path.length) {
-      if (ext === path)
+    if (suffix !== undefined && suffix.length > 0 && suffix.length <= path.length) {
+      if (suffix === path)
         return '';
-      let extIdx = ext.length - 1;
+      let extIdx = suffix.length - 1;
       let firstNonSlashEnd = -1;
       for (let i = path.length - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
         const code = StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(path, i);
@@ -1335,7 +1335,7 @@ const posix = {
           }
           if (extIdx >= 0) {
             // Try to match the explicit extension
-            if (code === StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(ext, extIdx)) {
+            if (code === StringPrototypeCharCodeAt(suffix, extIdx)) {
               if (--extIdx === -1) {
                 // We matched the extension, so mark this as the end of our path
                 // component