<i>: The Interesting Text element

The HTML Interesting Text element (<i>) represents a range of text that is set off from the normal text for some reason. Some examples include technical terms, foreign language phrases, or fictional character thoughts. It is typically displayed in italic type.

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Usage notes

• Use the <i> element for text that is set off from the normal prose for readability reasons. This would be a range of text with different semantic meaning than the surrounding text.
• In earlier versions of the HTML specification, the <i> element was merely a presentational element used to display text in italics, much like the <b> element was used to display text in bold letters. This is no longer true, as these tags now define semantics rather than typographic appearance. A browser will typically still display the contents of the <i> element in italic type, but is, by definition, no longer required to do so. To display text in italic type, authors should use the CSS font-style property.
• Be sure the text in question is not actually more appropriately marked up with another element.
  • Use <em> to indicate stress emphasis.
  • Use <strong> to indicate importance, seriousness, or urgency.
  • Use <mark> to indicate relevance.
  • Use <cite> to mark up the name of a work, such as a book, play, or song.
  • Use <dfn> to mark up the defining instance of a term.

Examples

This example demonstrates using the <i> element to mark text that is in another language.

<p>The Latin phrase <i>Veni, vidi, vici</i> is often
mentioned in music, art, and literature.</p>

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• <em>
• Other italicized elements: <var>, <dfn>, <cite>, <address>