How to define terms with HTML ?

In this article, we will see how to define the terms with HTML. HTML facilitates us with some ways to define or describe the text so that users can get the exact meaning or message the developer wanted to deliver. A description list is a list of terms, with a description of each term. Lists in HTML are used for specifying particular information in list form. We will understand all the related terms with the relevant examples.

Definition element: In HTML, we can use the <dfn> tag to describe the word and for showing the first occurrence of the word. The text inside this tag is visible in the italic form on the browser which shows that it is a special kind of keyword or value.

Syntax:

<dfn title ="meaning"> Content </dfn>

Value:

• title: This attribute define the meaning of the text that is visible when we hover on the text.

Example: This example describes the use of the Definition element. 

Output:

HTML <dfn> tag

Abbreviation element: Abbreviation element is also used to describe the term we are using and it also uses a dotted line below the text to show the special appearance of the text. It is defined using <abbr> tag.

Syntax:

<dfn> Content </dfn>   
<abbr title="description"> Content </abbr>

Value:

• title: This attribute (in this tag) is used to give a description of the text.

Example: This example describes the use of the Abbreviation element.

Output:

HTML <abbr> Tag

Description list: The Description list is a list in which each item comes with its description. A description list is defined using <dl> tag followed by two more tags <dt> & <dd>.

• definition term <dt> tag: This tag is used to define the item name or term of the list.
• definition description <dd> tag:  This tag is used to describe the term of the list.

Syntax:

<dl>
    <dt> term </dt>
    <dd> description </dd>
</dl>

Example: This example describes the use of the Description list.

Output:

HTML Description list