• funcall function &rest args → result*

• function - a function designator.
• args - arguments to the function.
• results - the values returned by the function.

funcall applies function to args.

If function is a symbol, it is coerced to a function as if by finding its functional value in the global environment.

(funcall #'+ 1 2 3) 

→

6



(funcall 'car '(1 2 3)) 

→

1



(funcall 'position 1 '(1 2 3 2 1) :start 1) 

→

4



(cons 1 2) 

→

(1 . 2)



(flet ((cons (x y) `(kons ,x ,y)))
  (let ((cons (symbol-function '+)))
    (funcall #'cons (funcall 'cons 1 2) (funcall cons 1 2)))) 

→

(KONS (1 . 2) 3)

None.

An error of type undefined-function should be signaled if function is a symbol that does not have a global definition as a function or that has a global definition as a macro or a special operator.

• Function APPLY
• Special Operator FUNCTION
• {\secref\Evaluation}

(funcall function arg1 arg2 ...) 
  ≡ (apply function arg1 arg2 ... nil) 
  ≡ (apply function (list arg1 arg2 ...))

The difference between funcall and an ordinary function call is that in the former case the function is obtained by ordinary evaluation of a form, and in the latter case it is obtained by the special interpretation of the function position that normally occurs.

\issue{FUNCTION-TYPE:X3J13-MARCH-88}