Definition Tag

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Chris Coyier on

It’s <dfn>. Jen Kramer and Erika Lee are doing a #30DaysofHTML email list thing-y on Substack, which is an easy subscribe. It’s only been a few days and all of them have little gems, even for someone like me who likes to think he has a pretty decent grasp on HTML. Day 4 is <dfn>.

I’m sure I could have told you that <dfn> was “definition” but I certainly don’t reach for it as often as I probably should and couldn’t give you a straight answer on the perfect time to use it.

I think Erika nails that here:

<p>He is not as enamored with <dfn id="kong">King Kong</dfn> 
  who resembles an enormous gorilla-like ape that has appeared 
  in various media since 1933. </p> 

...

<p>Complaints about <a href="#kong">Kong</a> include how he 
  has no atomic fire breath.</p> 

I really like the idea of defining a term naturally and contextually within a block of text, and pointing back up to it with an anchor link later if needed.

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