A CNAME record, or Canonical Name record, is a type of Domain Name System (DNS) record that maps an alias name to a true or canonical domain name. This allows multiple domain names to point to the same IP address without needing separate records for each one. For example, if you have a website at example.com, you can create a CNAME record for www.example.com that directs users to the same site. CNAME records are useful for simplifying domain management and ensuring that changes to the canonical domain automatically apply to all aliases. They are commonly used for subdomains and can help with load balancing and redundancy in web hosting.