HTML <dl> Element
The <dl> element represents a description list containing groups of terms and their associated descriptions or values. It is commonly used for definitions, metadata, names and values, and other content where one or more terms are associated with one or more descriptions.
Syntax
<dl>
<dt>HTML</dt>
<dd>A markup language used to structure web page content.</dd>
<dt>CSS</dt>
<dd>A style sheet language used to control web page presentation.</dd>
</dl>The <dl> element contains groups of <dt> elements representing terms or names and <dd> elements providing their descriptions or values.
Attributes
The <dl> element supports the global HTML attributes. It does not have any element-specific attributes.
Example
The following example creates a description list containing several web development terms and their descriptions:
Usage Notes
A description list consists of groups containing one or more <dt> terms followed by one or more <dd> descriptions. This allows a single term to have multiple descriptions or several terms to share the same description.
Description lists are not limited to dictionary-style definitions. They can also represent metadata, names and values, questions and answers, and other relationships between terms and descriptive information.
Use an unordered <ul> or ordered <ol> list instead when the content is simply a collection of items without term-and-description relationships.
Do not use a <dl> only because browsers normally indent its <dd> content. Visual indentation and spacing should be controlled with CSS.
Accessibility
Use <dl> only when the content has a meaningful relationship between terms and their descriptions or values. Proper use helps preserve those relationships for browsers and assistive technologies.
Keep each <dt> and its associated <dd> content logically grouped and clearly written so visitors can understand which descriptions belong to each term.
Browser Support
Baseline: Widely available indicates a feature has been supported by core browsers for at least 30 months. At this stage, the feature is considered stable and safe for most websites to use without needing to worry about compatibility issues or fallbacks, as it is supported by the vast majority of users' devices and browser versions.
For detailed browser compatibility information, see Can I Use: HTML <dl> Element .
Related Elements
<dt> - Represents a term or name within a description list.
<dd> - Provides a description, definition, or value for a term in a description list.
<ul> - Represents an unordered list of items.
<ol> - Represents an ordered list of items.