Definition: FORTRAN

(FORmula TRANslator) The first high-level programming language and compiler, developed in 1954 by IBM. It was originally designed to express mathematical formulas, and although it has been used for business applications, it is primarily used for scientific, engineering and mathematical problems. FORTRAN IV is an ANSI standard, but FORTRAN V has various proprietary versions. The following FORTRAN example converts Fahrenheit to Celsius:

   write(6,*) 'Enter Fahrenheit '
   read(5,*) XFAHR
   XCENT = (XFAHR - 32) * 5 / 9
   write(6,*) 'Celsius is ', XCENT
   stop
   end