# dialect of Lisp

tags
: [[Lisp]]

Except for perhaps the original Lisp in the 1950s, there is no “pure Lisp,” only variations. Each dialect is distinguished by its particular syntax and its library functions. For example, Scheme has a `define` function that takes a list as its first argument, and in this way you can define a function.

```scheme
(define (foo arg1 arg2)

    )
```

However other Lisps, such as [[Emacs Lisp]] or [[Clojure]] define functions as such:

```emacs-lisp
(defun foo (arg1 arg2)
  ; body...
  )
```