When we talk about 'a closure' do we refer to a single variable, or do we refer to all 'closed' variables?

Question

Let's take the following (JavaScript) code that returns a function that closes over variables x and y to illustrate:

function test() {
  var x = Math.random();
  var y = Math.random();
  var f = function() { 
    console.log(x, y); 
  };

  return f;
}
test()();

The code is nonsensical, I just want to close over x and y.

Variables x and y don't exist outside of the function test but they remain available in the function f.

Barring any compiler optimizations (like inlining), do we say there is a single closure (created by f), or do we say there are two closures (for/over x and y)?

Answer 1

"A closure" is a function that closes over one or more variables, not the variable(s) that are closed over. So it's a single closure.

Answer 2

A closure is a first class function that captures the lexical bindings of variables defined in it's environment. When it captures the bindings it is said to have "closed over" the variables.

Note: this means closures only exist at runtime (once it has "closed over" variables).

So in the example above a single closure is created when the code is executed. This closure is "closed over" the variables x and y.