Definition Lists

7.4 - Definition Lists

These consist of pairs of terms and definitions, but can also be used for plays as in:

<DL>
<DT>King Henry
<DD>I myself heard the King say he would not be ransomed.
<DT>Williams
<DD>Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but when our
throats are cut he may be ransomed, and we none the wiser.
<DT>King Henry
<DD>If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.
<DT>Williams
<DD>You pay him then! That's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun,
that a poor and a private displeasure can do against a monarch!
You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice, with fanning in
his face with a peacock's feather. You'll never trust his word
after! Come `tis a foolish saying.
</DL>

This could be rendered as:

King Henry: I myself heard the King say he would not be ransomed.

Williams: Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but when our throats are cut he may be ransomed, and we none the wiser.

King Henry: If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.

Williams: You pay him then! That's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun, that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch! You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice, with fanning his face with a peacock's feather. You'll never trust his word after! Come `tis a foolish saying.

or as:

King Henry: I myself heard the King say he would not be ransomed.
Williams: Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but when our throats are cut he may be ransomed, and we none the wiser.
King Henry: If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.
Williams: You pay him then! That's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun, that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch! You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice, with fanning his face with a peacock's feather. You'll never trust his word after! Come `tis a foolish saying.

Browsers should make allowance for the infrequent case when the term text (DT) is longer than the definition text (DD) and wraps onto subsequent lines. Note that you are allowed to have several consecutive DT elements followed by a DD element, but you can't have DD without an associated DT element, The COMPACT attribute as in <DL COMPACT> forces the browser to use the former more compact style.

HTML+ Discussion Document - November 8, 1993

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