symbol-value

(symbol-value symbol)

Returns the value of the global variable named by symbol; an unbound name signals an error (a trap on WASM). Like Common Lisp's dynamic-only symbol-value, lexical bindings are invisible. t, nil and keywords evaluate to themselves. Use boundp to test first, and intern to build the name at runtime.

An unbound variable signals an error:

> (symbol-value '*nope*)
The variable *nope* is unbound