>>> def compose1 ( f , g ): return lambda x : f ( g ( x )) 

We can understand the structure of a lambda expression by constructing a corresponding English sentence:

 lambda x : f(g(x))
"A function that takes x and returns f(g(x))"

The result of a lambda expression is called a lambda function. It has no intrinsic name (and so Python prints <lambda> for the name), but otherwise it behaves like any other function.