Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Lisp \Lisp\ (l[i^]sp), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lisped (l[i^]spt);
p. pr. & vb. n. Lisping.] [OE. lispen, lipsen, AS. wlisp
stammering, lisping; akin to D. & OHG. lispen to lisp, G.
lispeln, Sw. l[aum]spa, Dan. lespe.]
1. To pronounce the sibilant letter s imperfectly; to give s
and z the sound of th; -- a defect common among children.
[1913 Webster]
2. To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, as
a child learning to talk.
[1913 Webster]
As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,
I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
3. To speak hesitatingly with a low voice, as if afraid.
[1913 Webster]
Lest when my lisping, guilty tongue should halt.
--Drayton.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Lisp \Lisp\, v. t.
1. To pronounce with a lisp.
[1913 Webster]
2. To utter with imperfect articulation; to express with
words pronounced imperfectly or indistinctly, as a child
speaks; hence, to express by the use of simple, childlike
language.
[1913 Webster]
To speak unto them after their own capacity, and to
lisp the words unto them according as the babes and
children of that age might sound them again.
--Tyndale.
[1913 Webster]
3. To speak with reserve or concealment; to utter timidly or
confidentially; as, to lisp treason.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Lisp \Lisp\, n.
The habit or act of lisping. See Lisp, v. i., 1.
[1913 Webster]
I overheard her answer, with a very pretty lisp, "O!
Strephon, you are a dangerous creature." --Tatler.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
LISP \LISP\ (l[i^]sp), n. (Computers) [List Processing.]
a high-level computer programming language in which
statements and data are in the form of lists, enclosed in
parentheses; -- used especially for rapid development of
prototype programs in artificial intelligence applications .
[PJC]
lisp
n 1: a speech defect that involves pronouncing `s' like
voiceless `th' and `z' like voiced `th'
2: a flexible procedure-oriented programing language that
manipulates symbols in the form of lists [syn: LISP, list-processing language]
v 1: speak with a lisp
Source: V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2006)
LISP
Lots of Isolated Silly Parentheses (LISP, slang)
Source: V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2006)
LISP
LISt Processor (LISP)
Source: The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003)
LISP
n.
[from ?LISt Processing language?, but mythically from ?Lots of Irritating
Superfluous Parentheses?] AI's mother tongue, a language based on the ideas
of (a) variable-length lists and trees as fundamental data types, and (b)
the interpretation of code as data and vice-versa. Invented by John
McCarthy at MIT in the late 1950s, it is actually older than any other
HLL still in use except FORTRAN. Accordingly, it has undergone
considerable adaptive radiation over the years; modern variants are quite
different in detail from the original LISP 1.5. The dominant HLL among
hackers until the early 1980s, LISP has since shared the throne with C.
Its partisans claim it is the only language that is truly beautiful. See
languages of choice.
All LISP functions and programs are expressions that return values; this,
together with the high memory utilization of LISPs, gave rise to Alan
Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar Wilde quote) that ?LISP
programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing?.
One significant application for LISP has been as a proof by example that
most newer languages, such as COBOL and Ada, are full of unnecessary
crocks. When the Right Thing has already been done once, there is no
justification for bogosity in newer languages.
[lisp]
We've got your numbers....
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 July 2010)
Lisp
LISt Processing language.
(Or mythically "Lots of Irritating Superfluous Parentheses").
Artificial Intelligence's mother tongue, a symbolic,
functional, recursive language based on the ideas of
lambda-calculus, variable-length lists and trees as
fundamental data types and the interpretation of code as data
and vice-versa.
Data objects in Lisp are lists and atoms. Lists may contain
lists and atoms. Atoms are either numbers or symbols.
Programs in Lisp are themselves lists of symbols which can be
treated as data. Most implementations of Lisp allow functions
with side-effects but there is a core of Lisp which is
purely functional.
All Lisp functions and programs are expressions that return
values; this, together with the high memory use of Lisp, gave
rise to Alan Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar
Wilde quote) that "Lisp programmers know the value of
everything and the cost of nothing".
The original version was LISP 1, invented by John McCarthy at MIT in the late 1950s. Lisp is
actually older than any other high level language still in
use except Fortran. Accordingly, it has undergone
considerable change over the years. Modern variants are quite
different in detail. The dominant HLL among hackers until
the early 1980s, Lisp now shares the throne with C. See
languages of choice.
One significant application for Lisp has been as a proof by
example that most newer languages, such as COBOL and Ada,
are full of unnecessary crocks. When the Right Thing has
already been done once, there is no justification for
bogosity in newer languages.
See also Association of Lisp Users, Common Lisp, FranzLisp, MacLisp, Portable Standard Lisp, Interlisp,
Scheme, ELisp, Kamin's interpreters.
[Jargon File]
(1995-04-16)
Dictionary
top