Perl

American  

[purl] / pɜrl /

Digital Technology, Trademark.

1. a high-level scripting language, originally created to help automate text processing, now used more broadly.

---

Perl British  

/ pɜːl /

noun

1. a computer language that is used for text manipulation, esp on the Internet

---

Etymology

Origin of Perl

Coined in 1987 by Perl's creator, Larry Wall, U.S. computer programmer (born 1954)

Example Sentences

Isobel Perl started her own skincare brand from her parents' house in Watford five years ago.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025

“When Schubert mentions Balanchine and Stravinsky’s youth in Russia, Parker offers a delicious vista of onion-domed churches silhouetted against a darkening sunset,” Jed Perl wrote in his review in The Times.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2024

In New York City, meanwhile, soil expert Sara Perl Egendorf saw that residents weren't sure how best to protect against soil lead contamination in urban gardens.

From Salon • Mar. 22, 2023

Aside from Anne Frank and the lesser-known Gisella Perl, a Jewish doctor at Auschwitz, few women’s voices have made it into the mainstream narrative surrounding this dark time in history.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 15, 2022

Once both agreed, Marvin brought James Baldwin on board to write the script and Arnold Perl to modify the screenplay.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey