ELisp, Scheme and Common Lisp are all LISPs, so they all use a common terminology, s-expressions for syntax, allow higher-order functions and macros, etc. but t

ELisp, Scheme and Common Lisp are all LISPs, so they all use a common terminology, s-expressions for syntax, allow higher-order functions and macros, etc. but their programming paradigms tend to be different. Common Lisp tends to follow a procedural style (if/switch statements, for/while-loops, lots of side-effects, etc.). CL also has the Common Lisp Object System (CLOS) which is a very powerful OO implementation. On the other hand, Scheme tends to follow a more functional style (recursion, map/reduce, continuations, minimising side-effects, etc.). ELisp tends to be quite procedural, which is why it's closer to CL than Scheme. Also ELisp uses dynamic scope whilst Scheme uses lexical scope. Lexical scope has only been (officially) supported in ELisp since Emacs 24 (the latest major version).