Definition: lisp

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

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 : speak with a lisp

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

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\ (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\, 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.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

*LISP

   (StarLISP) A data-parallel extension of Common LISP for
   the Connection Machine, uses "pvars".

   A *LISP simulator.

   E-mail: <<a href="mailto:customer-support@think.com">customer-support@think.com>,
   <documentation-order@think.com>.

   [Cliff Lasser, Jeff Mincy, J.P. Massar, Thinking Machines
   Corporation  "The Essential *LISP Manual", TM Corp 1986].

   [Jargon File]
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
   <jmc@sail.stanford.edu> 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, Franz
   Lisp, MacLisp, Portable Standard Lisp, Interlisp,
   Scheme, ELisp, Kamin's interpreters.

   [Jargon File]

   (1995-04-16)

Source: V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms December 2001 

LISP
        LISt Processor (LISP)
LISP
        Lots of Isolated Silly Parentheses (LISP, slang)

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) 

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.