computer language

American  

[kuhm-pyoo-ter lang-gwij] / kəmˈpyu tər ˌlæŋ gwɪdʒ /

noun

1. a programming language, as BASIC, COBOL, or FORTRAN, devised for communicating instructions to a computer.

---

computer language British  

noun

1. another term for programming language

---

Etymology

Origin of computer language

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

It hasn’t helped that the agency has such outdated information technology systems that it sometimes uses a 1960s-era computer language for data processing and stores information on magnetic tapes in warehouses.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2022

Documents and forms must now be scanned by managers into computer systems that in some cases still run on computer language that debuted half a century ago, then assigned to claims processors working from home.

From Washington Post • Jan. 29, 2022

If you actually look at the technologies that banks run on, we’re talking about COBOL, which is a computer language from the ’70s.

From The Verge • Apr. 6, 2021

In the beginning, computers spoke only computer language, and a human seeking to interact with one was compelled to do the same.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2016

It began one day when he picked up a manual that someone had discarded, a manual for an obscure form of computer language for doing calculations.

From Hackers, Heroes of the Computer Revolution Chapters 1 and 2 by Levy, Steven