diff --git a/base/operators.jl b/base/operators.jl
index ebd1d515f92b00..5eaaf33597aef6 100644
--- a/base/operators.jl
+++ b/base/operators.jl
@@ -1248,6 +1248,12 @@ used to implement specialized methods.
 """
 <(x) = Fix2(<, x)
 
+struct Splat{F} <: Function
+    f::F
+end
+(s::Splat)(args) = s.f(args...)
+string(s::Splat) = string("splat(", s.f, ')')
+
 """
     splat(f)
 
@@ -1269,7 +1275,7 @@ julia> map(Base.splat(+), zip(1:3,4:6))
  9
 ```
 """
-splat(f) = args->f(args...)
+splat(f) = Splat(f)
 
 ## in and related operators
 
diff --git a/base/show.jl b/base/show.jl
index 485f9f8cc9f87f..0e3b9a364314df 100644
--- a/base/show.jl
+++ b/base/show.jl
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ end
 
 show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", c::ComposedFunction) = show(io, c)
 show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", c::Returns) = show(io, c)
+function show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", s::Splat)
+    print(io, "splat(")
+    show(io, s.f)
+    print(io, ')')
+end
 
 function show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", iter::Union{KeySet,ValueIterator})
     isempty(iter) && get(io, :compact, false) && return show(io, iter)