lisp
[lisp] 
| 1. | a speech defect consisting in pronouncing s and z like or nearly like the th-sounds of thin and this, respectively. |
| 2. | Phonetics. any unconventional articulation of the sibilants, as the pronunciation of s and z with the tongue between the teeth (lingual protrusion lisp), close to or touching the upper front teeth (dental lisp), or raised so that the breath is emitted laterally (lateral lisp). |
| 3. | the act, habit, or sound of lisping. |
| 4. | to pronounce or speak with a lisp. |
| 5. | to speak imperfectly, esp. in a childish manner. |
bef. 1100; ME wlispen, lipsen, OE āwlyspian; akin to D lisp(el)en, G lispeln, Norw leipsa
Related forms:
LISP
[lisp] | a high-level programming language that processes data in the form of lists: widely used in artificial intelligence applications. |
lis(t) p(rocessing)
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| lisp (lĭsp) n.
v. intr.
To pronounce with a lisp. [From Middle English lispen, to lisp, from Old English -wlyspian (in āwlyspian, to lisp), from wlisp, lisping.] lisp'er n. |
| LISP (lĭsp) n. A programming language that processes lists. It is widely used in artificial intelligence research. [lis(t) p(rocessing).] |
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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["a]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. 2. To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, as a child learning to talk. As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. --Pope. 3. To speak hesitatingly with a low voice, as if afraid. Lest when my lisping, guilty tongue should halt. --Drayton.Lisp
Lisp\, v. t. 1. To pronounce with a lisp. 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. 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. 3. To speak with reserve or concealment; to utter timidly or confidentially; as, to lisp treason.Lisp
Lisp\, n. The habit or act of lisping. See Lisp, v. i., 1. I overheard her answer, with a very pretty lisp, "O! Strephon, you are a dangerous creature." --Tatler.Cite This Source
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 now shares 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.
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lisp (v.)
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Main Entry: 1lisp
Pronunciation: 'lisp
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to pronounce the sibilants s and z imperfectly especially by givingthem the sounds h and th
2 : to speak with a lisp lisp transitive senses
: to utter with a lisp
Main Entry: 2lisp
Function: noun
: a speech defect or affectation characterized by lisping
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lisp (lĭsp)
n.
A speech defect or mannerism characterized by mispronunciation of the sounds (s) and (z) as (th) and (th). v. lisped, lisp·ing, lisps
To speak with a lisp.
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Lisp language
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
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, Franz Lisp, MacLisp, Portable Standard Lisp, Interlisp, Scheme, ELisp, Kamin's interpreters.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-04-16)
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| LISP List Processing computer language |
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