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HTML dl Tag

Reading time 2 min
Published Mar 19, 2019
Updated Oct 1, 2019

HTML dl: Main Tips

  • The <dl> element represented an HTML definition list in HTML4.
  • In HTML5, it was repurposed and renamed as the description list. This also made it more of a semantic element.
  • Such lists work well for glossaries, metadata, FAQs, and similar type of lists.
  • The HTML dl element supports all global attributes.

What is dl?

What does dl mean? Since HTML5, it stands for a description list. Such a list contains name-value pairs: terms and their definitions, questions and answers, etc. In these pairs, the <dt> elements represent the names, and the <dd> elements stand for the values.

Example
<dl>
  <dt>Car</dt>
  <dd>A vehicle used for boring transportation.</dd>
  <dt>Hot air balloon</dt>
  <dd>A vehicle used for fun transportation.</dd>
</dl>

Tip: you can wrap your HTML dl elements in <div> tags for styling purposes or to apply global attributes.

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Name-Value Pairs for HTML dl

Before HTML5, the name of the dl element was deciphered as an HTML definition list. The update to a description list made the element's purpose clearer and also broader: the pair does not necessarily have to include any explanation, as long as there is a name-value pair in sight.

The rules for name-value pairs are flexible: there doesn't have to just be one of each. Check the example below to get the idea:

Example
<h3>One name, one value:</h3>
<dl>
  <dt>BitDegree</dt>
  <dd>Gamified online education platform</dd>
</dl>

<h3>One name, multiple values:</h3>
<dl>
  <dt>BitDegree Learn</dt>
  <dd>Code theory</dd>
  <dd>Code examples</dd>
  <dd>Code editor</dd>
</dl>

<h3>Multiple names, one value:</h3>
<dl>
  <dt>BitDegree Learn</dt>
  <dt>BitDegree Courses</dt>
  <dt>BitDegree Gamified Experience</dt>
  <dd>Tools needed to become a great developer</dd>
</dl>

Warning: do not use HTML dl for dialogues! While this use was suggested in HTML4, it is now deprecated, as you are not describing the speaker in any way.

Browser support

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Chrome
All
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Edge
All
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Firefox
1+
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IE
All
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Opera
All
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Safari
All

Mobile browser support

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Chrome
All
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Firefox
4+
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Opera
All
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Safari
All