P2P stands for Peer-to-Peer. In torrenting, this is the name of the type of technology that allows people to search for and download content in a decentralized way, that is, without relying on a centralized server to provide the files. The unique structure of the network means downloading large files is very efficient.  On a P2P network, the BitTorrent client you are using locates copies of the file that you want to download within that network, and allows your computer to create multiple connections with several sources that have all or part of the requested file.