The Collaborative International Dictionary
higher programming language
higher programming language \higher programming language\ n. (Computers) a computer programming language with an instruction set allowing one instruction to code for several assembly language instructions.
Note: The aggregation of several assembly-language instructions into one instruction allows much greater efficiency in writing computer programs. Most programs are now written in some higher programming language, such as BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, C, C++, or JAVA.