What does "macro" mean anyway?

[Regan Heath]

Janice Caron wrote:
> What does "macro" mean anyway?
> 
> I took the trouble to look it up in a dictionary. It means
> 
> 1 : being large, thick, or exceptionally prominent
> 2a : of, involving, or intended for use with relatively large quantities 
> or on a large scale
> 2b : of or relating to macroeconomics
> 3 : GROSS
> 4 : of or relating to a macro lens or to close-up photography
> 
> Therefore, please may I suggest that we use the word "define" to define 
> things - not "macro"

IMO the dictionary isn't the best place to look for a definition (sounds 
crazy I know) in this case because the term has a well known and 
specific meaning in computer science.

A better location would be wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_%28computer_science

Note, I'm not making an argument for or against the use of macro at this 
stage.

Regan