babel

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
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
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
    
from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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)
    
from Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's)
Babel, confusion; mixture
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
33 Moby Thesaurus words for "Babel":
      Aesopian language, Greek, argot, babble, bedlam, cacophony, cant,
      cipher, clamor, clash, code, confusion of tongues, cryptogram,
      double Dutch, garble, gibberish, gift of tongues, glossolalia,
      gobbledygook, harshness, hell, jangle, jar, jargon, jumble,
      mere noise, noise, pandemonium, racket, scramble, secret language,
      slang, static

    

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