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Glite Dictionary
markup language

markup language

1 4.6
A set of simple tags that tell a computer how to show or arrange text
  • noun
  • /ˈmɑrkʌp ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lenguaje de marcado
  • HTML5 is a markup language.
  • HTML markup language
  • hypertext markup language
  • extensible markup language

So now we're sort of playing in the world of HTTPHTML is just this markup language, open tag, close tag that tells a browser how to render content on a web page.

Examples

  • XML is a relative of the hypertext markup language used to create web pages.

    Academic text (2006)

  • This time I'm going to show you how to write a simple web page using the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML.

  • The Web developed as a text-only domain based on markup language.

    Blog text (17)

  • With developers eager for a single markup language that included detailed processing models to encourage more interoperable implementations, HTML5 was born.

    Blog text (18)

  • The online versions of the demographic questionnaire and CESPCI were created in hypertext markup language (HTML) format.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Early Web standards setters expected that VRML would be the equivalent of hypertext markup language, the HTML that drives the display of two-dimensional Web pages.

    Academic text (2001)

  • For example, a publication provided in hypertext markup language (HTML) can be resized by a user or read aloud with screen reading software, providing the accessibility advantages of an audio tape or large print version through a single electronic file.

    Academic text (2006)

  • HTML is the most widely used markup language for creating webpages.

  • Many developers use the markup language Markdown to format text easily.

  • XHTML is a stricter version of the markup language HTML, designed to improve interoperability.

Surface Forms

markup language singular
markup languages plural

Morphology

markup + language

The meaning is directly compositional: 'markup' (notation for formatting) combined with 'language' (a system of symbols) yields a system used to mark up or annotate documents. This noun–noun combination follows a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Markup language comes from old printers who would mark a page up with notes and signs to show where text should be bold, start a new paragraph, or change size. A markup language does the same for computers: special marks tell the computer the parts of a document and how to show them.