Wikipedia
Machine learning is a subfield of computer science (CS) and artificial intelligence (AI) that deals with the construction and study of systems that can learn from data, rather than follow only explicitly programmed instructions.
Standford Machine Learning course - Coursera
Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed.
Data Mining - Ian H. Witten, Eibe Frank, Mark A. Hall
We interpret machine learning as the acquisition of structural descriptions from examples.