`<glossterm>`

The <glossterm> element specifies the term that is defined by the glossary entry topic.

Specialization hierarchy

The <glossterm> element is specialized from <title>. It is defined in the glossary entry module.

Content model

Contained by

<glossentry>

Zero or more of the following

Text
<cite>
<data>
<draft-comment>
<foreign>
<image>
<keyword>
<ph>
<q>
<required-cleanup>
<term>
<text>
<tm>

Contained by

<glossentry>

Inheritance

- topic/title concept/title glossentry/glossterm

The <glossterm> element is specialized from <title>. It is defined in the glossentry module.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: ID and conref attributes, localization attributes, @base, @class, @outputclass, and @rev.

@base

Specifies metadata about the element. It is often used as a base for specialized attributes that have a simple syntax for values, but which are not conditional processing attributes.

The @base attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. However, when serving as a container for generalized attributes, the attribute values will be more complex. See Attribute generalization for more details.

@class (not for use by authors)

This attribute is not for use by authors. If an editor displays @class attribute values, do not edit them. Specifies a default value that defines the specialization ancestry of the element. Its predefined values allow DITA tools to work correctly with specialized elements. In a generalized DITA document the @class attribute value in the generalized instance might differ from the default value for the @class attribute for the element as given in the DTD or schema. See The class attribute rules and syntax for more information. This attribute is specified on every element except for the <dita> container element. It is always specified with a default value, which varies for each element.

@conaction

Specifies how the element content will be pushed into a new location. The following values are valid:

mark: The element acts as a marker when pushing content before or after the target, to help ensure that the push action is valid. The element with conaction="mark" also specifies the target of the push action with @conref. Content inside of the element with conaction="mark" is not pushed to the new location.
pushafter: Content from this element is pushed after the location specified by @conref on the element with conaction="mark". The element with conaction="pushafter" is the first sibling element after the element with conaction="mark".
pushbefore: Content from this element is pushed before the location specified by @conref on the element with conaction="mark". The element with conaction="pushbefore" is the first sibling element before the element with conaction="mark".
pushreplace: Content from this element replaces any content from the element referenced by the @conref attribute. A second element with conaction="mark" is not used when using conaction="pushreplace".
-dita-use-conref-target: See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.

See TODO: Update link and title to OASIS published URI for examples and details about the syntax.

@conkeyref

Specifies a key name or a key name with an element ID that acts as an indirect reference to reusable content. The referenced content is used in place of the content of the current element. See TODO: Update link and title to OASIS published URI for more details about the syntax and behaviors.

@conref

Specifies a URI that references a DITA element. The referenced content is used in place of the content of the current element. See TODO: Update link and title to OASIS published URI for examples and details about the syntax.

@conrefend

Specifies a URI that references the last element in a sequence of elements, with the first element of the sequence specified by @conref. The referenced sequence of elements is used in place of the content of the current element. See TODO: Update link and title to OASIS published URI for examples and details about the syntax.

@dir

Identifies or overrides the text directionality. The following values are valid:

lro: Indicates an override of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm, forcing the element into left-to-right mode.
ltr: Indicates left-to-right.
rlo: Indicates an override of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm, forcing the element into right-to-left mode.
rtl: Indicates right-to-left.
-dita-use-conref-target: See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.

See The dir attribute for more information.

@id

Specifies an identifier for the current element. This ID is the target for references by @href and @conref attributes and for external applications that refer to DITA or LwDITA content. This attribute is defined with the XML data type NMTOKEN, except where noted for specific elements within the language reference.

See id attribute for more details.

@outputclass

Specifies a role that the element is playing. The role must be consistent with the basic semantic and expectations for the element. In particular, the @outputclass attribute can be used for styling during output processing; HTML output will typically preserve @outputclass for CSS processing.

Draft comment: robander

I don't like "The role must be consistent...", that seems like best practice that cannot be normative – and I could easily say outputclass="flashy" which makes my element show up with sparkles, and has nothing to do with "the basic semantic and expectations for the element".

Draft comment: robander

TO RESOLVE 13 May 2026: how about saying "the role can be", or even a lower-case should, rather than "must be"?

@rev

Specifies a revision level of an element that identifies when the element was added or modified. It can be used to flag outputs when it matches a run-time parameter. It cannot be used for filtering nor is it sufficient to be used for version control. If no value is specified but the attribute is specified on a containing element within a map or within the related-links section, the value cascades from the closest containing element.

Draft comment: Kristen J Eberlein 29 September 2022

I want to tweak this. How about the following? Also, neither definition describes what values are permitted.

Specifies metadata that identifies when the element was added or the content of the element was modified. The @rev attribute can be used for flagging. It cannot be used for filtering nor is it sufficient to be used for version control. If no value is specified but the attribute is specified on a containing element within a map or within the related-links section, the value cascades from the closest containing element.

Draft comment: robander

TO RESOLVE 13 May 2026: Sounds good, I might say "can be used for flagging revisions" just because that sentence feels a bit odd ending in "for flagging" but really don't care, fine with using the text with or without that update.

@translate

Specifies whether the content of the element should be translated. The following values are valid: yes, no, and -dita-use-conref-target.

See Element-by-element recommendations for translators for suggested processing defaults for each element.

Draft comment: Kristen J Eberlein 31 December 2021

Does Element-by-element recommendations for translators really provide suggested processing defaults for each element? I thought it covered whether an element was block or in-line and whether there were considerations that translators needed to be aware of.

Draft comment: robander

TO RESOLVE 13 May 2026: Can we update to "See (link) for information on additional considerations on translating DITA elements."

@xml:lang

Specifies the language and optional locale of the content that is contained in an element. Valid values are language tokens or the null string. The @xml:lang attribute and its values are described in the Extensible Markup Language 1.0 specification, fifth edition.

Draft comment: Kristen J Eberlein 29 September 2022

Do we also want to direct readers to the architectural topics about the @xml:lang attribute?

Draft comment: robander

TO RESOLVE 13 May 2026: Yes, should provide a cross reference, not sure if that will work in the lwdita spec but can figure that out later

Example

This section is non-normative.

The following code sample shows how the <glossterm> element specifies the term that is defined in the <glossentry> topic:

<glossentry id="css">
    <glossterm>cascading style sheets</glossterm>
    <glossdef>Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language that is used
    for rendering the presentation of a document written in a markup
    language such as HTML or XML</glossdef>
  <glossBody>
    <glossSurfaceForm>cascading style sheets (CSS)</glossSurfaceForm>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAcronym>CSS</glossAcronym>
    </glossAlt>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossSynonym>web style sheets</glossSynonym>
    </glossAlt>
  </glossBody>
</glossentry>