Babel
    n 1: (Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants
         (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to
         heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they
         could no longer understand one another [syn: Tower of
         Babel, Babel]
    2: a confusion of voices and other sounds

Babel \Ba"bel\, n. [Heb. B[=a]bel, the name of the capital of
   Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of
   "confusion."]
   1. The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the
      confusion of languages took place.
      [1913 Webster]

            Therefore is the name of it called Babel. --Gen. xi.
                                                  9.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence: A place or scene of noise and confusion; a confused
      mixture of sounds, as of voices or languages.
      [1913 Webster]

            That babel of strange heathen languages. --Hammond.
      [1913 Webster]

            The grinding babel of the street.     --R. L.
                                                  Stevenson.
      [1913 Webster]

BABEL

   1. A subset of ALGOL 60, with many ALGOL W extensions.

   ["BABEL, A New Programming Language", R.S. Scowen, Natl Phys
   Lab UK, Report CCU7, 1969].

   2. Mentioned in The Psychology of Computer Programming,
   G.M. Weinberg, Van Nostrand 1971, p.241.

   3. A language based on higher-order functions and
   first-order logic.

   ["Graph-Based Implementation of a Functional Logic Language",
   H. Kuchen et al, Proc ESOP 90, LNCS 432, Springer 1990,
   pp.271-290].

   ["Logic Programming with Functions and Predicates: The
   Language BABEL", Moreno-Navarro et al, J Logic Prog 12(3) (Feb
   1992)].

   (1994-11-28)

Babel, confusion; mixture