Home·HTML tags

<dfn>

Inline markup

Marks the term being defined at that point in the text.

How to write it<dfn></dfn>
Closing tag</dfn>
Void elementNo — it must be closed
Common attributesNone in particular
CategoryInline markup

How to read this

  • Most tags come in pairs, opening and closing. Only tags with no content — img, br — are left unclosed.
  • Writing </br> for a void element does nothing useful; the browser ignores it or adds an empty line.
  • Appearance is CSS’s job. A tag says what something is; bold or italic is only the consequence.
  • Choosing the tag that matches the meaning helps search engines and screen readers alike. Wrapping everything in div throws that information away.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is the HTML <dfn> tag?

Marks the term being defined at that point in the text.

Q. How do you write <dfn>?

As <dfn></dfn>. The opening <dfn> pairs with the closing </dfn>.

Q. Which attributes are common on <dfn>?

None in particular. The global attributes every element has — class, id, style — still apply.

Q. What group does <dfn> belong to?

The inline markup group.

Tags in the same group

Reference docs