Markdown Definition List: Terms and Meanings

Definition lists in Markdown

Lists

Markdown syntax

Some tools only

Term
: Definition

Pandoc, PHP Markdown Extra, kramdown (Jekyll) and MkDocs with the def_list extension.

There is no definition list in CommonMark or GitHub Flavored Markdown. Several tools add one with a colon at the start of the definition line; on GitHub, use the HTML <dl> tags.

All ways to write it

```
Term
: Definition
```
Pandoc, PHP Markdown Extra, kramdown (Jekyll) and MkDocs with the def_list extension.Some tools only

<dl>
  <dt>Term</dt>
  <dd>Definition</dd>
</dl>

HTML. Works on GitHub.Needs HTML

```
**Term**
: Definition
```
Without support, a bold term and an indented line is the usual fallback look.Works everywhere

Example

You type

<dl>
  <dt>Space key</dt>
  <dd>The short code in a Confluence space URL, such as DOCS.</dd>
  <dt>Page tree</dt>
  <dd>The parent and child pages in a space.</dd>
</dl>

You get

Space key: The short code in a Confluence space URL, such as DOCS.
Page tree: The parent and child pages in a space.

Questions

Does GitHub support the colon definition syntax?

No. GitHub shows the colon as text. Use <dl>, <dt> and <dd>.

Definition list in Confluence

For a glossary in Confluence, a two-column table is usually the clearest format, and Markdown Importer converts Markdown tables into Confluence tables.