Help me understand this code, please

I'm working through 'Eloquent Javascript' (www.eloquentjavascript.net) and I'm not grasping how this works.

function multiplier(factor) {
  return number => number * factor;
}
let twice = multiplier(2);
console.log(twice(5));
// → 10

I guess where I'm getting lost is how does this line worK:
let twice = multiplier(2)

In trying to understand, I did some other console.log commands to see what they would return:

console.log(multiplier(2));
// → x => x * factor
console.log(twice);
// → x => x * factor

Can someone help me get over this mental block that I'm having? How does 'twice' have a parameter? Is 'twice' a reference to the multiplier function?

Comments

[David Pereira]

twice has a parameter because it's a function. The reason it's a function is because the multiplier function returns a function (on that code snippet you use the lamdba function syntax). In JS this is possible because functions are first-class citizens.
Also, twice is not a reference to the multiplier function. You create a new function when you return, so it's a reference to a new function. Every time you call multiplier, you create a new function.
Hope that helped ☺

[M. Brian Dunson]

Ok, so what I was missing is:
return x => x * factor;

is the same as:
return function(x) { return x * factor; };

Thank you for your excellent explanation!