The template {{glossary}} (a.k.a. {{glossary start}} or {{glossary begin}}) is used with {{glossary end}} to explicitly bracket a glossary or glossary-like description list (also called a definition list or association list), especially in a template-structured glossary, although such lists can be used more generally. This is required (as a technical matter) for template-structured glossaries, and is good practice anywhere description/definition lists are used for glossaries. The template pair invoke the <dl>...</dl> description list HTML element. Unfortunately, the "{{dl}}" mnemonic is not available as a redirect as of this writing.
The pair of templates incidentally prevent Wikipedia's MediaWiki software engine from auto-creating redundant definition list code (<dl>...</dl>) around terms and definitions if they have blank lines between them, as they often do, especially in non-structured glossaries.
Typical usage:
{{glossary}}{{term}}{{defn}}{{glossary end}}
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|id= can be used to assign a one-word ID name to the glossary. This can be used as a #id link target, and could have other metadata uses.|style= will pass CSS styling on to the <dl> element. I.e., this styles the definition list itself, as a container, not the individual terms and definitions with it. There is rarely any reason to do this.|class= will pass one or more space-separate CSS classes on to <dl> element, in addition to the automatically included class glossary. There is rarely any reason to do this.This shows both a very simple then a rather complex instance in a structured glossary (including an entry with a block quotation, which inside a definition has reduced vertical margins compared to the standard display of {{blockquote}}, due to TemplateStyles):
This family of templates, like the underlying definition-list code, is primarily intended for definitional uses, but can have other applications. The HTML 4.01 Specification itself says:
Definition lists ... generally consist of a series of term/definition pairs (although definition lists may have other applications). Thus, when advertising a product, one might use a definition list:
- Lower cost
- The new version of this product costs significantly less than the previous one!
- Easier to use
- We've changed the product so that it's much easier to use!
- Safe for kids
- You can leave your kids alone in a room with this product and they won't get hurt (not a guarantee).
Thus, editors should feel free to use definition-list markup as an alternative to bulleted or numbered lists when the material is well-suited to definition-list presentation.
{{glossary}} a.k.a. {{glossary start}} or {{glossary begin}} – Half of a template pair; uses <dl> with a class to open the structured glossary definition list that {{glossary end}} closes.{{glossary end}} – The other half of this template pair; uses </dl> to close the definition list that {{glossary}} opens.{{term}} – The glossary term to which the {{defn}} definition applies; a customized <dt> with a class and an embedded <dfn>.{{defn}} – The definition that applies to the {{term}}; uses <dd> with a class{{ghat}} – a hatnote template properly formatted for the top of a {{defn}} definition{{glossary link}} – meta-template for creating shortcut templates for linking to definitions in specific glossaries