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Dfn element

As explained in Web Design Playground, Second Edition

The HTML dfn element marks the defining instance of a term.

Use the dfn element to mark the first or defining instance of a term. Browsers commonly display the marked text in italics. section 16.1

Define a term

Wrap the term itself in <dfn>: <dfn>header</dfn> is an element that appears at the top of the page.

How Web Design Playground, Second Edition covers it

How deep it goes
Defines the element and notes italic rendering, but stops short of deeper browser or implementation details.
Examples
Uses “header” as a defining term in a short HTML example.
What you can do after
Apply it by wrapping a term’s defining instance in <dfn>...</dfn>.
How it connects
Relates to other text-level elements such as cite, code, kbd, mark, and pre.
Cover of Web Design Playground, Second Edition
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Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Web Design Playground, Second Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.