Web/HTML/Element/dt

The HTML <dt> element specifies a term in a description or definition list, and as such must be used inside a <dl> element. It is usually followed by a <dd> element; however, multiple <dt> elements in a row indicate several terms that are all defined by the immediate next <dd> element.

The subsequent <dd> (Description Details) element provides the definition or other related text associated with the term specified using <dt>.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Content categories	None.
Permitted content	Flow content, but with no `<header>`, `<footer>`, sectioning content or heading content descendants.
Tag omission	Must have a start tag. The end tag may be omitted if this element is immediately followed by another `<dt>` or a `<dd>` element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.
Permitted parents	Before a `<dt>` or a `<dd>` element, inside a `<dl>` or (in WHATWG HTML) a `<div>` that is inside a `<dl>`.
Implicit ARIA role	`term`
Permitted ARIA roles	`listitem`
DOM interface	`HTMLElement` Up to Gecko 1.9.2 (Firefox 4) inclusive, Firefox implements the `HTMLSpanElement` interface for this element.

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Example

For an example, see the example provided for the <dl> element.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<dt>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5The definition of '<dt>' in that specification.	Recommendation
HTML 4.01 SpecificationThe definition of '<dt>' in that specification.	Recommendation

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`dt`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support