1. [n]  ability to produce solutions in some problem domain; "the skill of a well-trained boxer"; "the sweet science of pugilism"
2. [n]  an ability that has been acquired by training

1. \Skill\, n. [Icel. skil a distinction, discernment; akin
   to skilja to separate, divide, distinguish, Sw. skilja,.
   skille to separate, skiel reason, right, justice, Sw. sk["a]l
   reason, Lith. skelli to cleave. Cf. {Shell}, {Shoal}, a
   multitude.]
   1. Discrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause. [Obs.]
      --Shak. ``As it was skill and right.'' --Chaucer.
            For great skill is, he prove that he wrought. [For
      with good reason he should test what he created.]
                                                  --Chaucer.
   2. Knowledge; understanding. [Obsoles.]
            That by his fellowship he color might Both his
            estate and love from skill of any wight. --Spenser.
            Nor want we skill or art.             --Milton.
   3. The familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with
      readiness and dexterity in execution or performance, or in
      the application of the art or science to practical
      purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to
      perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude; as, the skill
      of a mathematician, physician, surgeon, mechanic, etc.
            Phocion, . . . by his great wisdom and skill at
            negotiations, diverted Alexander from the conquest
            of Athens.                            --Swift.
            Where patience her sweet skill imparts. --Keble.
   4. Display of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address.
      [Obs.]
            Richard . . . by a thousand princely skills,
            gathering so much corn as if he meant not to return.
                                                  --Fuller.
   5. Any particular art. [Obs.]
            Learned in one skill, and in another kind of
            learning unskillful.                  --Hooker.
   Syn: Dexterity; adroitness; expertness; art; aptitude;
        ability.
   Usage: {Skill}, {Dexterity}, {Adroitness}. Skill is more
          intelligent, denoting familiar knowledge united to
          readiness of performance. Dexterity, when applied to
          the body, is more mechanical, and refers to habitual
          ease of execution. Adroitness involves the same image
          with dexterity, and differs from it as implaying a
          general facility of movement (especially in avoidance
          of danger or in escaping from a difficalty). The same
          distinctions apply to the figurative sense of the
          words. A man is skillful in any employment when he
          understands both its theory and its practice. He is
          dexterous when he maneuvers with great lightness. He
          is adroit in the use od quick, sudden, and
          well-directed movements of the body or the mind, so as
          to effect the object he has in view.
   

2. \Skill\, v. t.
   To know; to understand. [Obs.]
         To skill the arts of expressing our mind. --Barrow.
   

3. \Skill\, v. i.
   1. To be knowing; to have understanding; to be dexterous in
      performance. [Obs.]
            I can not skill of these thy ways.    --Herbert.
   2. To make a difference; to signify; to matter; -- used
      impersonally. --Spenser.
            What skills it, if a bag of stones or gold About thy
            neck do drown thee?                   --Herbert.
            It skills not talking of it.          --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
   

A somewhat peculiar blend between Franz-Lisp and C, with a large set of various CAD primitives. It is owned by Cadence Design Systems and has been used in their CAD frameworks since 1985. It's an extension language to the CAD framework (in the same way that Emacs-Lisp extends GNU Emacs), enabling you to automate virtually everything that you can do manually in for example the graphic editor. Skill accepts C-syntax, fun(a b), as well as Lisp syntax, (fun a b), but most users (including Cadence themselves) use the C-style.

[Jonas Jarnestrom <[email protected]>].