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HTML: <dl> tag

This HTML tutorial explains how to use the HTML element called the <dl> tag with syntax and examples.

Description

The HTML <dl> tag is used to define a description list in the HTML document. A description list is a list of grouped terms (found within the <dt> tag) and a corresponding description (found within the <dd> tag). This tag is also commonly referred to as the <dl> element.

Syntax

In HTML, the syntax for the <dl> tag is:

<dl>
  <dt>Term1</dt>
  <dd>Description of Term1<dd>

  <dt>Term2</dt>
  <dd>Description of Term2<dd>
</dl>

Sample Output

Attributes

Only the Global Attributes apply to the <dl> tag. There are no attributes that are specific to the <dl> tag.

Note

  • The <dl> element is found within the <body> tag.
  • The <dl> tag is commonly used to display glossaries or definitions of terms.
  • The <dl> tag can contain zero or more groups with each group made up of one or more terms (found in <dt> tags) followed by one or more descriptions (found in <dd> tags).

  • For each group, there must be at least one <dt> tag followed by at least one <dd> tag. This means that it is possible to list:

    • a single term followed by a single description
    • a single term followed by multiple descriptions
    • multiple terms followed by a single description
    • multiple terms followed by multiple descriptions

Browser Compatibility

The <dl> tag has basic support with the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Android
  • Firefox (Gecko)
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  • Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Edge Mobile
  • Opera
  • Opera Mobile
  • Safari (WebKit)
  • Safari Mobile

Example

We will discuss the <dl> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <dl> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

HTML5 Document

If you created a new web page in HTML5, your <dl> tag might look like this:

<!doctype html>
<html>

<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML5 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<dl>
   <dt>Chrome</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Google</dd>
   
   <dt>Safari</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Apple</dd>
</dl>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML5 Document example, we have created a description list with 2 terms (Chrome and Safari) and their corresponding descriptions.

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in HTML 4.01 Transitional, your <dl> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<dl>
   <dt>Firefox</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Mozilla</dd>
   
   <dt>Opera</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Opera</dd>
</dl>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML 4.01 Transitional Document example, we have created a description list with 2 terms (Firefox and Opera) and their corresponding descriptions.

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Transitional, your <dl> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHMTL 1.0 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<dl>
   <dt>IE</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Microsoft</dd>
   
   <dt>Chrome</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Google</dd>
</dl>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document example, we have created a description list with 2 terms (IE and Chrome) and their corresponding descriptions.

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Strict, your <dl> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Strict Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<dl>
   <dt>Firefox</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Mozilla</dd>
   
   <dt>Safari</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Apple</dd>
</dl>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Strict Document example, we have created a description list with 2 terms (Firefox and Safari) and their corresponding descriptions.

XHTML 1.1 Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.1, your <dl> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.1 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
<dl>
   <dt>Chrome</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Google</dd>
   
   <dt>Edge</dt>
   <dd>Web browser by Microsoft</dd>
</dl>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.1 Document example, we have created a description list with 2 terms (Chrome and Edge) and their corresponding descriptions.

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