Common Lisp the Language, 2nd Edition
There are two ways to indicate a function to be used in a function-call form. One is to use a symbol that names the function. This use of symbols to name functions is completely independent of their use in naming special and lexical variables. The other way is to use a lambda-expression, which is a list whose first element is the symbol lambda. A lambda-expression is not a form; it cannot be meaningfully evaluated. Lambda-expressions and symbols, when used in programs as names of functions, can appear only as the first element of a function-call form, or as the second element of the function special form. Note that symbols and lambda-expressions are treated as names of functions in these two contexts. This should be distinguished from the treatment of symbols and lambda-expressions as function objects, that is, objects that satisfy the predicate functionp, as when giving such an object to apply or funcall to be invoked.