homoiconicity

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/ˌhəʊ.məʊˌaɪ.kɒˈnɪ.sɪ.ti/

noun

A property of some programming languages, in which the primary representation of programs is also a data structure in a primitive type of the language itself.

Scrabble 25
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Meanings

nounhomoiconicity (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingA property of some programming languages, in which the primary representation of programs is also a data structure in a primitive type of the language itself.

    Homoiconicity is a feature of a programming language system that denotes that a computer program has the same form as the data that are input and output by the program.

    2010, Kumiko Tanaka-Ishii, Semiotics of Programming, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 179

Origin

From homoiconic (“self-representing”) + -icity.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

homoiconicity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homoiconicity

MLA

“homoiconicity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homoiconicity. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homoiconicity,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homoiconicity.

Source: homoiconicity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.