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high-level language

American  

noun

Computers.

  1. a problem-oriented programming language, as COBOL, FORTRAN, or PL/1, that uses English-like statements and symbols to create sequences of computer instructions and identify memory locations, rather than the machine-specific individual instruction codes and numerical addresses employed by machine language.

high-level language British  

noun

  1. a computer programming language that resembles natural language or mathematical notation and is designed to reflect the requirements of a problem; examples include Ada, BASIC, C, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal See also machine code

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of high-level language

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A full compiler—a translator into machine language—is a rather complex project, but translating into a high-level language that is very similar to CPL is much easier.

From Scientific American • Aug. 23, 2011

The entire machine does not speak or understand an interface's high-level language.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.