[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

language \lan"guage\, n. oe. langage, f. langage, fr. l. lingua
   the tongue, hence speech, language; akin to e. tongue. see
   tongue, cf. lingual.
   1913 webster
   1. any means of conveying or communicating ideas;
      specifically, human speech; the expression of ideas by the
      voice; sounds, expressive of thought, articulated by the
      organs of the throat and mouth.
      1913 webster

   note: language consists in the oral utterance of sounds which
         usage has made the representatives of ideas. when two
         or more persons customarily annex the same sounds to
         the same ideas, the expression of these sounds by one
         person communicates his ideas to another. this is the
         primary sense of language, the use of which is to
         communicate the thoughts of one person to another
         through the organs of hearing. articulate sounds are
         represented to the eye by letters, marks, or
         characters, which form words.
         1913 webster

   2. the expression of ideas by writing, or any other
      instrumentality.
      1913 webster

   3. the forms of speech, or the methods of expressing ideas,
      peculiar to a particular nation.
      1913 webster

   4. the characteristic mode of arranging words, peculiar to an
      individual speaker or writer; manner of expression; style.
      1913 webster

            others for language all their care express. --pope.
      1913 webster

   5. the inarticulate sounds by which animals inferior to man
      express their feelings or their wants.
      1913 webster

   6. the suggestion, by objects, actions, or conditions, of
      ideas associated therewith; as, the language of flowers.
      1913 webster

            there was . . . language in their very gesture.
                                                  --shak.
      1913 webster

   7. the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or
      department of knowledge; as, medical language; the
      language of chemistry or theology.
      1913 webster

   8. a race, as distinguished by its speech. r.
      1913 webster

            all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell
            down and worshiped the golden image.  --dan. iii. 7.
      1913 webster

   9. any system of symbols created for the purpose of
      communicating ideas, emotions, commands, etc., between
      sentient agents.
      pjc

   10. specifically: computers any set of symbols and the
       rules for combining them which are used to specify to a
       computer the actions that it is to take; also referred to
       as a computer lanugage or programming language; as,
       java is a new and flexible high-level language which has
       achieved popularity very rapidly.
       pjc

   note: computer languages are classed a low-level if each
         instruction specifies only one operation of the
         computer, or high-level if each instruction may specify
         a complex combination of operations. machine language
         and assembly language are low-level computer
         languages. fortran, cobol and c are high-level
         computer languages. other computer languages, such as
         java, allow even more complex combinations of low-level
         operations to be performed with a single command. many
         programs, such as databases, are supplied with special
         languages adapted to manipulate the objects of concern
         for that specific program. these are also high-level
         languages.
         pjc

   language master, a teacher of languages. obs.

   syn: speech; tongue; idiom; dialect; phraseology; diction;
        discourse; conversation; talk.

   usage: language, speech, tongue, idiom, dialect.
          language is generic, denoting, in its most extended
          use, any mode of conveying ideas; speech is the
          language of articulate sounds; tongue is the
          anglo-saxon term for language, esp. for spoken
          language; as, the english tongue. idiom denotes the
          forms of construction peculiar to a particular
          language; dialects are varieties of expression which
          spring up in different parts of a country among people
          speaking substantially the same language.
          1913 webster
see also:
tongue lingual computer lanugage programming language machine language assembly language 
fortran cobol c language master language 
speech idiom dialect 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

programming language
     n : computer science a language designed for programming
         computers syn: programing language
see also:
programing language 

[3] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

programming language
     
         a formal language in which computer programs are
        written.  the definition of a particular language consists of
        both syntax how the various symbols of the language may be
        combined and semantics the meaning of the language
        constructs.
     
        languages are classified as low level if they are close to
        machine code and high level if each language statement
        corresponds to many machine code instructions though this
        could also apply to a low level language with extensive use of
        macros, in which case it would be debatable whether it still
        counted as low level.  a roughly parallel classification is
        the description as first generation language through to
        fifth generation language.
     
        another major distinction is between imperative languages
        and declarative languages.
     
        1995-04-06
     
     
see also:
syntax semantics machine code macro first generation language fifth generation language 
imperative language declarative language 

Programming >> P Words
Programming, definition of term: Programming
programming_pag1.html

Language >> L Words
Language, definition of term: Language
language_pag1.html

Programming Lan >> P Words
Programming Lan, definition of term: Programming Lan
programming+lan_pag1.html

Sign Language >> S Words
Sign Language, definition of term: Sign Language
sign+language_pag1.html

Siouan Language >> S Words
Siouan Language, definition of term: Siouan Language
siouan+language_pag1.html

Target Language >> T Words
Target Language, definition of term: Target Language
target+language_pag1.html

Celtic Language >> C Words
Celtic Language, definition of term: Celtic Language
celtic+language_pag1.html

Markup Language >> M Words
Markup Language, definition of term: Markup Language
markup+language_pag1.html

German Language >> G Words
German Language, definition of term: German Language
german+language_pag1.html

Hebrew Language >> H Words
Hebrew Language, definition of term: Hebrew Language
hebrew+language_pag1.html

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