# Render the \`dfn\` tag

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/render-the-dfn-tag/407823>\
**Category:** Feature\
**Tags:** markdown\
**Created:** [July 16, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/render-the-dfn-tag/407823 "2026-07-16T18:12:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3

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**Author:** ![roke\_julian\_lockhart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/roke_julian_lockhart/32/540179_2.png) [@roke\_julian\_lockhart](https://meta.discourse.org/u/roke_julian_lockhart)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/render-the-dfn-tag/407823/3 "2026-10-18T00:23:32Z")

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> [@roke\_julian\_lockhart](#):
>
> No semantic alternative exists.

I have, since, realised that `q` or `i` tags are more accurate, for my use case:

> **[Use–mention distinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Use%E2%80%93mention_distinction&oldid=1380793497#Overview:~:text=Referring%20to%20a%20word%20or%20phrase%20itself%2C%20rather%20than%20what%20the%20word%20or%20phrase%20normally%20refers%20to%2C%20is%20accomplished%20in%20written%20English%20by%20invoking%20single%20or%20double%20quotation%20marks%20or%20by%20using%20italics%2E)**
>
> In the field of analytic philosophy, a fundamental distinction is made between the ordinary use of a term (a word, name, phrase, etc.) and the mention of it. The distinction between using and mentioning a term can be illustrated with the English word cheese below: The first sentence is a statement about an edible product of milk-producing animals. It uses the term; the writer is using the English word in its standard way to refer to the common dairy product. The second is a statement about the v...

> ****
>
> > Referring to a word or phrase itself, rather than what the word or phrase normally refers to, is accomplished in written English by invoking single or double [quotation marks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_marks "Quotation marks") or by using [italics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italics "Italics").

I consider this to be an absence in the HTML standard!

Tangentially, I should have utilised the term _element_, rather than “tag”.

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