Cobol1961

6 definitions found

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

  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.
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     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.
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     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.
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     7. The vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or
        department of knowledge; as, medical language; the
        language of chemistry or theology.
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     8. A race, as distinguished by its speech. [R.]
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              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]

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

  higher programming language \higher programming language\ n.
     (Computers)
     A computer programming language with an instruction set
     allowing one instruction to code for several assembly
     language instructions.
  
     Note: The aggregation of several assembly-language
           instructions into one instruction allows much greater
           efficiency in writing computer programs. Most programs
           are now written in some higher programming language,
           such as {BASIC}, {FORTRAN}, {COBOL}, {C}, {C++},
           {PROLOG}, or {JAVA}.
           [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  COBOL
       n : common business-oriented language

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  COBOL
       COmmon Business Orientated Language
       
       

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  COBOL /koh'bol/ n. [COmmon Business-Oriented Language] (Synonymous with
     {evil}.) A weak, verbose, and flabby language used by {card walloper}s
     to do boring mindless things on {dinosaur} mainframes. Hackers believe
     that all COBOL programmers are {suit}s or {code grinder}s, and no
     self-respecting hacker will ever admit to having learned the language.
     Its very name is seldom uttered without ritual expressions of disgust or
     horror. One popular one is Edsger W. Dijkstra's famous observation that
     "The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be
     regarded as a criminal offense." (from "Selected Writings on Computing:
     A Personal Perspective") See also {fear and loathing}, {software rot}.
  
  

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

  COBOL
       
          {COmmon Business Oriented Language}