higher-order function

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

higher-order function

   (HOF) A function that can take one or more functions as
   argument and/or return a function as its value.  E.g. map in
   (map f l) which returns the list of results of applying
   function f to each of the elements of list l.  See also
   {curried function}.