Definition of "grammar"

Because real lexicons are big and complex, from a software engineering perspective it is best to write simple grammars that have a simple, well-defined way, of pulling out the information they need from vast lexicons. That is, grammars should be thought of as separate entities which can access the information contained in lexicons. We can then use specialised mechanisms for efficiently storing the lexicon and retrieving data from it.

2006, Patrick Blackburn · Johan Bos · Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, §8.2

We must learn a new grammar of power in a world that is made up more of the common good – or the common bad – than of self-interest or national interest.

2011, Javier Solana, Daniel Innerarity, Project Syndicate, The New Grammar of Power‎

To turn this sort of mixture of a gossip and a gospel into anything like a grammar of Distributism has been quite impossible.

1926, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “VI: A Summary”, in The Outline of Sanity, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.

2012 January 11, Graeme Paton, “A green light for more grammars?”, in The Daily Telegraph

Hickerson has a computer program which found a spaceship with speed c/3. In fact a whole grammar of them.

1991 April 4, Bill Gosper, “LIFELINE:in search of the newsletter”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)

Within a few hours of finding the first period 2 ship, Dean had discovered a grammar for constructing an infinite number of different short, wide, period 2 spaceships. A grammar is an "alphabet" of "components", along with rules for the possible sequences of connections between components. Components are simply the identifiable pieces of a ship which reappear over and over in different ships in different combinations.

1992 August 27, David Bell, “Spaceships in Conway's Life (Part 2a)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)

Dean's discovery included a much more plentiful family than just the light, medium, and heavy weight spaceships that have been known since the beginning, which he was able to organize into a series of tiles and a grammar for them.

1994 January 21, Harold McIntosh, “de Bruijn diagrams”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)

She is in her Moods, and her Tenses: / I'll Grammar with you, / And make a trial how I can decline you

c. 1619–1623, John Ford, “The Lavves of Candy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)