/jen' sim/ (From the MacLISP for "generated symbol") To invent a new nAMe for something temporary, in such a way that the nAMe is almost certainly not in conflict with one already in use. The canonical form of a gensym is "Gnnnn" where nnnn represents a number any LISPhacker would recognise G0093 (for exAMple) as a gensym. Gensymmed nAMes are useful for storing or uniquely identifying crufties. [Jargon File] (1999-10-31)