Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Symbol \Sym"bol\, n. [L. symbolus, symbolum, Gr. sy`mbolon a
   sign by which one knows or infers a thing, from ? to throw or
   put together, to compare; sy`n with + ? to throw: cf. F.
   symbole. Cf. {Emblem}, {Parable}.]
   1. A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything
      which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by
      resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation;
      a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage;
      the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.

            A symbol is a sign included in the idea which it
            represents, e. g., an actual part chosen to
            represent the whole, or a lower form or species used
            as the representative of a higher in the same kind.
                                                  --Coleridge.

   2. (Math.) Any character used to represent a quantity, an
      operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.

   Note: In crystallography, the symbol of a plane is the
         numerical expression which defines its position
         relatively to the assumed axes.

   3. (Theol.) An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a
      creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.

   4. [Gr. ? contributions.] That which is thrown into a common
      fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. [Obs.]

            They do their work in the days of peace . . . and
            come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.
                                                  --Jer. Taylor.

   5. Share; allotment. [Obs.]

            The persons who are to be judged . . . shall all
            appear to receive their symbol.       --Jer. Taylor.

   6. (Chem.) An abbreviation standing for the name of an
      element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin
      or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with
      a following one; as, {C} for carbon, {Na} for sodium
      (Natrium), {Fe} for iron (Ferrum), {Sn} for tin (Stannum),
      {Sb} for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names
      and symbols under {Element}.

   Note: In pure and organic chemistry there are symbols not
         only for the elements, but also for their grouping in
         formulas, radicals, or residues, as evidenced by their
         composition, reactions, synthesis, etc. See the diagram
         of {Benzene nucleus}, under {Benzene}.

   Syn: Emblem; figure; type. See {Emblem}.

C \C\ (s[=e])
   1. C is the third letter of the English alphabet. It is from
      the Latin letter C, which in old Latin represented the
      sounds of k, and g (in go); its original value being the
      latter. In Anglo-Saxon words, or Old English before the
      Norman Conquest, it always has the sound of k. The Latin C
      was the same letter as the Greek [Gamma], [gamma], and
      came from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks got it from the
      Ph[oe]nicians. The English name of C is from the Latin
      name ce, and was derived, probably, through the French.
      Etymologically C is related to g, h, k, q, s (and other
      sibilant sounds). Examples of these relations are in L.
      acutus, E. acute, ague; E. acrid, eager, vinegar; L.
      cornu, E. horn; E. cat, kitten; E. coy, quiet; L. circare,
      OF. cerchier, E. search.

   Note: See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 221-228.

   2. (Mus.)
      (a) The keynote of the normal or ``natural'' scale, which
          has neither flats nor sharps in its signature; also,
          the third note of the relative minor scale of the
          same.
      (b) C after the clef is the mark of common time, in which
          each measure is a semibreve (four fourths or
          crotchets); for alla breve time it is written ?.
      (c) The ``C clef,'' a modification of the letter C, placed
          on any line of the staff, shows that line to be middle
          C.

   3. As a numeral, C stands for Latin centum or 100, CC for
      200, etc.

   {C spring}, a spring in the form of the letter C.

Source : WordNet®

C
     n 1: a degree on the Centigrade scale of temperature [syn: {degree
          Centigrade}, {degree Celsius}]
     2: the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; the constancy
        and universality of the speed of light is recognized by
        defining it to be exactly 299,792,458 meters per second
        [syn: {speed of light}, {light speed}]
     3: one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four
        nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar
        (ribose) [syn: {deoxycytidine monophosphate}]
     4: a base found in DNA and RNA and derived from pyrimidine;
        pairs with guanine [syn: {cytosine}]
     5: an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in
        three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and
        diamond; occurs in all organic compounds [syn: {carbon}, {atomic
        number 6}]
     6: ten 10s [syn: {hundred}, {100}, {century}, {one C}, {centred}]
     7: a unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge
        transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second [syn: {coulomb},
         {ampere-second}]
     8: a general-purpose programing language closely associated
        with the UNIX operating system
     9: the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet
     10: street names for cocaine [syn: {coke}, {blow}, {nose candy},
          {snow}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

C#
     
         /see sharp/ An {object-oriented} language devised
        and promoted by {Microsoft}, intended to replace {Java}, which
        it strongly resembles.
     
        {(http://csharpindex.com/)}.
     
        (2001-10-04)

C
     
         A programming language designed by {Dennis Ritchie}
        at {AT&T} {Bell Labs} ca. 1972 for systems programming on the
        {PDP-11} and immediately used to reimplement {Unix}.
     
        It was called "C" because many features derived from an
        earlier compiler named "{B}".  In fact, C was briefly named
        "NB".  B was itself strongly influenced by {BCPL}.  Before
        {Bjarne Stroustrup} settled the question by designing {C++},
        there was a humorous debate over whether C's successor should
        be named "D" or "P" (following B and C in "BCPL").
     
        C is terse, low-level and permissive.  It has a {macro
        preprocessor}, {cpp}.
     
        Partly due to its distribution with {Unix}, C became immensely
        popular outside {Bell Labs} after about 1980 and is now the
        dominant language in systems and {microcomputer} applications
        programming.  It has grown popular due to its simplicity,
        efficiency, and flexibility.  C programs are often easily
        adapted to new environments.
     
        C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain,
        as "a language that combines all the elegance and power of
        {assembly language} with all the readability and
        maintainability of assembly language".
     
        Ritchie's original C, known as {K&R C} after Kernighan and
        Ritchie's book, has been {standard}ised (and simultaneously
        modified) as {ANSI C}.
     
        See also {ACCU}, {ae}, {c68}, {c386}, {C-Interp}, {cxref},
        {dbx}, {dsp56k-gcc}, {dsp56165-gcc}, {gc}, {GCT}, {GNU C},
        {GNU superoptimiser}, {Harvest C}, {malloc}, {mpl},
        {Pthreads}, {ups}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1996-06-01)

(c)
     
        An {ASCII} rendition of the encircled "c" {copyright} symbol.
        Unfortunately, this rendition is not legally valid, the circle
        must be complete.  The word "copyright" in full is perfectly
        adequate though.
     
        (In {LaTeX} the copyright symbol is written as \copyright).
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1995-02-03)

C*
     
         An {object-oriented}, {data-parallel}
        superset of {ANSI C} with synchronous {semantics}, for the
        {Connection Machine}, designed by {Thinking Machines}, 1987.
        C* adds a "domain" data type and a selection statement for
        parallel execution in domains.
     
        An unimplemented language called "{Parallel C}" [which one?]
        influenced the design of {C*}.  {Dataparallel-C} was based on
        {C*}.
     
        Current version: 6.x, as of 1993-07-27.
     
        ["C*: An Extended C Language for Data Parallel Programming",
        J.R. Rose et al, Proc Second Intl Conf on Supercomputing,
        L.P. Kartashev et al eds, May 1987, pp 2-16].
     
        ["C* Programming Manual", Thinking Machines Corp, 1986].
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (2000-11-14)

C+-
     
         (C More or Less) A subject-oriented language (SOL).
        Each C+- {class} instance, known as a subject, holds hidden
        {members}, known as prejudices, agendas or undeclared
        preferences, which are impervious to outside messages; as well
        as public members, known as boasts or claims.
     
        The following {C} {operators} are overridden as shown:
     
         >    better than
         <    worse than
         >>   way better than
         <<   forget it
         !    not on your life
         ==   comparable, other things being equal
         !==  get a life, guy!
     
        C+- is {strongly typed}, based on stereotyping and
        self-righteous logic.  The {Boolean} {variables} TRUE and
        FALSE (known as constants in other, less realistic languages)
        are supplemented with CREDIBLE and DUBIOUS, which are fuzzier
        than Zadeh's traditional fuzzy categories.  All Booleans can
        be declared with the modifiers strong and weak.  Weak
        implication is said to "preserve deniability" and was added at
        the request of the DoD to ensure compatibility with future
        versions of {Ada}.  Well-formed falsehoods (WFFs) are
        {assignment}-compatible with all Booleans.  What-if and
        why-not interactions are aided by the special conditional
        EVENIFNOT X THEN Y.
     
        C+- supports {information hiding} and, among {friend classes}
        only, rumor sharing.  Borrowing from the {Eiffel} lexicon,
        non-friend classes can be killed by arranging contracts.  Note
        that friendships are {intransitive}, {volatile} and
        non-{Abelian}.
     
        {Operator precedence} rules can be suspended with the
        directive #pragma dwim, known as the "{Do what I mean}"
        {pragma}.
     
        {ANSIfication} will be firmly resisted. C+-'s slogan is "Be
        Your Own Standard."
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1999-06-15)

C++
     
         One of the most used {object-oriented} languages, a
        superset of {C} developed primarily by {Bjarne Stroustrup}
         at {AT&T} {Bell Laboratories} in 1986.
     
        In C++ a {class} is a user-defined {type}, syntactically a
        {struct} with {member functions}.  {Constructors} and
        {destructors} are member functions called to create or destroy
        {instances}.  A {friend} is a nonmember function that is
        allowed to access the private portion of a class.  C++ allows
        {implicit type conversion}, {function inlining}, {overloading}
        of operators and function names, and {default function
        arguments}.  It has {streams} for I/O and {references}.
     
        C++ 2.0 (May 1989) introduced {multiple inheritance},
        {type-safe linkage}, pointers to members, and {abstract
        classes}.
     
        C++ 2.1 was introduced in ["Annotated C++ Reference Manual",
        B. Stroustrup et al, A-W 1990].
     
        {MS-DOS
        (ftp://grape.ecs.clarkson.edu/pub/msdos/djgpp/djgpp.zip)},
        {Unix ANSI C++
        (ftp://gnu.org/pub/gnu/g++-1.39.0.tar.Z)} - X3J16
        committee. (They're workin' on it).
     
        See also {cfront}, {LEDA}, {uC++}.
     
        {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.lang.c++}.
     
        ["The C++ Programming Language", Bjarne Stroustrup, A-W,
        1986].
     
        (1996-06-06)

C+@
     
        (Formerly Calico).  An {object-oriented language} from {Bell
        Laboratories} which uniformly represents all data as a pointer
        to a self-described object.  C+@ provides {multiple
        inheritance} with {delegation} and with control over which
        {method}s come from which delegated object; and {default
        methodologies}.  It has a simple {syntax} with emphasis on
        graphics.  It was originally used for prototyping of
        telecommunication services.
     
        {Unir Tech} has the exclusive license from Bell Labs to
        distribute C+@.  Unfortunately Unir is owned and operated by
        well-known anti-{IETF} ranter, Jim Fleming, which may have had
        something to do with the language's rapid disappearence from
        the radar screen.
     
        It runs under {SunOS} and compiles to {Vcode}.
     
        E-mail: Jim Vandendorpe .
     
        ["A Dynamic C-Based Object-Oriented System for Unix", S.
        Engelstad et al, IEEE Software 8(3):73-85 (May 1991)].
     
        ["The C+@ Programming Language", J. Fleming, Dr Dobbs J, Oct
        1993, pp.24-32].
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (2002-05-18)