diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 6f76830e..d71ae0f6 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-`Node` as word
-`Ports` as builtin
+`LiteralNode` -- syntax
+
+`@ports` as built-in to spread ports of a node
+`@apply` as built-in to apply a node
+
 remove syntax of rearrange
 update docs about using `@ports` to do rearrange
 
diff --git a/src/lang/word/Word.ts b/src/lang/word/Word.ts
index 76a6312b..77c7623b 100644
--- a/src/lang/word/Word.ts
+++ b/src/lang/word/Word.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Span } from "../span"
 
 export type Word =
   | Call
+  | LiteralNode
   | Builtin
   | Local
   | PortPush
@@ -17,6 +18,13 @@ export type Call = {
   span: Span
 }
 
+export type LiteralNode = {
+  "@type": "Word"
+  "@kind": "LiteralNode"
+  name: string
+  span: Span
+}
+
 export type Builtin = {
   "@type": "Word"
   "@kind": "Builtin"
diff --git a/src/lang/word/formatWord.ts b/src/lang/word/formatWord.ts
index 1820d55b..285b4ec8 100644
--- a/src/lang/word/formatWord.ts
+++ b/src/lang/word/formatWord.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ export function formatWord(word: Word): string {
       return word.name
     }
 
+    case "LiteralNode": {
+      return `(${word.name})`
+    }
+
     case "Builtin": {
       return `@${word.name}`
     }