Turn a list of terms into definition list syntax, an HTML dl, a table, or a bold-term list — and see where each one actually renders
Write Term: definition on one line, or put the term on its own line with each definition under it starting with :, -, or an indent. A blank line starts the next entry. 3 terms read.
PHP Markdown Extra, kramdown, Pandoc, MultiMarkdown and Python-Markdown. Plain text elsewhere.
Markdown : a plain text formatting syntax that converts to HTML. CommonMark : a strict specification of Markdown. : the base almost every renderer implements today. GFM : GitHub Flavored Markdown — CommonMark plus tables, task lists and autolinks.
The colon syntax is not CommonMark, so this previewer renders it as plain text with a visible colon — and GitHub, GitLab and Obsidian do the same. It renders as a real definition list in Markdown Extra, kramdown, Pandoc, MultiMarkdown and Python-Markdown. Switch to the HTML, table or list output to see it rendered here.
A definition list pairs a term with one or more definitions — a glossary, an options reference, an API parameter list. The syntax is not part of CommonMark; it comes from PHP Markdown Extra, and the processors that copied it read it the same way:
: the definition.The result is an HTML <dl> with a <dt> per term and a <dd> per definition — which is exactly what the HTML output above writes by hand, for the renderers that will not do it for you.
| Platform | Colon syntax | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PHP Markdown Extra | ✓ renders | Where the syntax originates. |
| kramdown (Jekyll) | ✓ renders | Supported, including multiple definitions. |
| Pandoc | ✓ renders | Supported, with multi-paragraph definitions. |
| MultiMarkdown | ✓ renders | Supported. |
| Python-Markdown | ✓ renders | With the def_list extension enabled. |
| CommonMark | ✗ plain text | Not part of the specification. |
| GitHub | ✗ plain text | Use the table, or the HTML <dl>, which GitHub does render. |
| GitLab | ✗ plain text | Use the table or the bold-term list. |
| Obsidian | ✗ plain text | Not in the editor; an HTML <dl> renders in reading view. |
| Discord, Reddit, Slack | ✗ plain text | No HTML either — use the bold-term list. |
Support is a property of the renderer, not of the file, so the same document can show a definition list in one place and a stray colon in another. When the destination is unknown, the two-column table is the only output that renders everywhere Markdown does.
No. GitHub renders CommonMark plus GitHub Flavored Markdown extensions, and definition lists are in neither, so a term line followed by ": definition" shows up as ordinary text with a colon in front of it. GitHub does render inline HTML, though, so the <dl> output above works in a README, an issue or a pull request. If you would rather stay in pure Markdown, use the two-column table.
Write the term on its own line, then each definition on the next line starting with a colon and a space. One term may carry several definitions — one colon line each — and a blank line separates entries. A definition that runs to several paragraphs needs its continuation lines indented by four spaces. That is the PHP Markdown Extra rule, and kramdown, Pandoc, MultiMarkdown and Python-Markdown all follow it.
It depends on where the text is going, and nothing else. Publishing with Jekyll, Pandoc or another Markdown Extra descendant: use the colon syntax, it is the real thing. Publishing on GitHub or GitLab: use the HTML <dl> if you want proper semantics, or the two-column table if you want it to look tidy in the raw file too. Chat, Reddit or notes apps that strip HTML: use the bold-term list.
Yes. Put each definition on its own line under the term — the generator keeps them all. The colon syntax and the HTML <dl> express that directly, with one dd per definition; the table joins them into one cell with a <br> between them, because a table cell cannot hold a line break any other way; and the bold-term list nests them as sub-bullets.
No. The parsing and every one of the five outputs are generated by JavaScript in this browser tab. Nothing is sent to a server, and your input is kept in this browser’s local storage only so a reload does not lose it.
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