# Add support for Definition Lists **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature requests\ **Tags:** valuable\ **Created:** [May 22, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224 "2020-05-22T02:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shydlou](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@shydlou](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/shydlou)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/1 "2020-05-22T02:16:05Z")
Please add support for [Definition Lists](https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#definition-lists). Looks like there’s a Markdown-it parser plugin available, [markdown-it-deflist](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-deflist). Example: ```auto Term 1 : Definition 1 Term 2 with *inline markup* : Definition 2 { some code, part of Definition 2 } Third paragraph of definition 2. ``` ---
**Author:** ![mvrfyi](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mvrfyi](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/mvrfyi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/2 "2020-05-30T15:05:52Z")
I would love to see this feature added! It shouldn’t be very hard to do. ---
**Author:** ![maartin](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@maartin](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/maartin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/3 "2020-05-31T05:02:03Z")
A definition list would help to structure information in a standardized QA style. I often use lists with indentation to do this now: - How does it work? - It works like this A definition list would be much better. ---
**Author:** ![maartin](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@maartin](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/maartin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/4 "2020-06-05T15:39:10Z")
How is markdown support in different flavours? From a Stackexchange [thread](https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/121157) (`x` = yes, `-` = no): - [x] Maruku - [x] kramdown - [x]MultiMarkdown - [x] Pandoc - [-] Github - [-] Gitlab ---
**Author:** ![pihentagy](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pihentagy/32/938_2.png) [@pihentagy](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/pihentagy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 9:16am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/5 "2020-10-08T09:16:41Z")
Also see > **[Pandoc - Pandoc User’s Guide](https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#definition-lists)** ---
**Author:** ![chrmnch](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/eb9ed0/32.png) [@chrmnch](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/chrmnch)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/6 "2020-10-23T14:16:12Z")
Is it possible to add support for these lists, similar to [https://www.markdownguide.org/extended-syntax/#definition-lists](https://www.markdownguide.org/extended-syntax/#definition-lists) ``` First Term : This is the definition of the first term. Second Term : This is one definition of the second term. : This is another definition of the second term. ``` Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![StefanoCecere](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/stefanocecere/32/2802_2.png) [@StefanoCecere](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/StefanoCecere)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/7 "2020-12-08T00:29:10Z")
in my books i use often the definition lists, should be really nice to have them rendered somehow here, yes ---
**Author:** ![Kergma](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/kergma/32/8610_2.png) [@Kergma](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Kergma)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/8 "2021-01-04T12:58:35Z")
I would like see support for definition lists, too. ---
**Author:** ![SkepticSpoon](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@SkepticSpoon](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/SkepticSpoon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/9 "2021-02-22T21:58:41Z")
I’d like to have this supported as well, I’d use it a lot ---
**Author:** ![davecan](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@davecan](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/davecan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/10 "2021-02-23T22:31:45Z")
As a workaround you can embed HTML directly into the Markdown. This works and renders correctly in the middle of a Markdown note in Obsidian: ```auto
term 1
definition 1
term 2
definition 2
``` ---
**Author:** ![SkepticSpoon](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@SkepticSpoon](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/SkepticSpoon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/11 "2021-02-26T13:46:45Z")
Yes, this does work in the meantime. However, I hope you add the true markdown version, since it’s easier to write (as all markdown syntax) and looks cleaner in edit mode. But thank you very much for the suggestion, I’ll be sure to use it while the markdown version is not available! ---
**Author:** ![sparky](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/sparky/32/21297_2.png) [@sparky](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/sparky)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/12 "2021-03-09T22:30:22Z")
I also support this notion ---
**Author:** ![Artemgy](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/f475e1/32.png) [@Artemgy](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Artemgy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 11:02am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/13 "2021-03-22T11:02:13Z")
To expand upon @maartin 's list, here is a list of many of the common implementations to have extended Markdown to include Definition Lists, with a link to their docs | System | Support | link to documentation | | --- | --- | --- | | Pandoc | YES | [Pandoc - Pandoc User’s Guide](https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#definition-lists) | | Wordpress | YES | [Markdown Quick Reference Cheat Sheet – Support — WordPress.com](https://wordpress.com/support/markdown-quick-reference/) | | Python-Markdown | YES | [Definition Lists — Python-Markdown 3.3.4 documentation](https://python-markdown.github.io/extensions/definition_lists/) | | php Markdown Extra | YES | [PHP Markdown Extra](https://michelf.ca/projects/php-markdown/extra/#def-list) | | MultiMarkdown | YES | [Definition Lists](https://fletcher.github.io/MultiMarkdown-5/definitionlists.html) | | SGML Markdown | YES | [Markdown Definition List Examples](http://sgmljs.net/docs/markdown-definitionlist-examples.html) | | Maruku | YES | | | kramdown | YES | | | Markdown-it | YES | [GitHub - markdown-it/markdown-it-deflist: Definition list (\) tag plugin for markdown-it markdown parser](https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-deflist) | | Gitlab | On roadmap | [GitLab Content Editor | Strategy (&5401) · Epics · GitLab.org · GitLab](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5401#note_530897669) | | CommonMark | No | [Description List - Extensions - CommonMark Discussion](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/description-list/289) | | Github | No | | Even though W3C decided to change their name to [Term-Description Groups](https://www.w3.org/TR/html52/grouping-content.html#the-dl-element) in HTML5, Definition Lists are a commonly used extension. The discussion on CommonMark above has been looking at implementing this since 2014, and they are only holding back in case some implementations find the ‘back-tracking’ hard to implement. GitLab are looking at it already, and once CommonMark adopts it the people like Github who follow CommonMark will do the same, so it’s only a matter of time. It would be great to add Obsidian to the list of software that supports it - is the feature already available in any of the parsing libraries Obsidian uses? ---
**Author:** ![Ampa](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/ampa/32/59_2.png) [@Ampa](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Ampa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/14 "2021-04-23T18:06:37Z")
+1 I would find definitions useful too. ---
**Author:** ![mmakela](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@mmakela](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/mmakela)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/15 "2021-05-02T20:57:50Z")
Also here for this! +1 ---
**Author:** ![u1mp3](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/u1mp3/32/13150_2.png) [@u1mp3](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/u1mp3)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/16 "2021-05-08T15:01:56Z")
Even though this feature request is a year old already, I still hope it will be implemented at some point too! ---
**Author:** ![Ankheg](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Ankheg](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Ankheg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/17 "2021-05-12T14:56:50Z")
It’s important for typing experience. ---
**Author:** ![amix](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@amix](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/amix)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 11:16am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/18 "2021-08-06T11:16:13Z")
+1 This is needed for FAQs, all kinds of technical documentation, etc. At least 10% of all documents I write will have a need for it, sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![shammond42](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/shammond42/32/19982_2.png) [@shammond42](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/shammond42)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/19 "2021-09-22T16:28:49Z")
I use definition lists a lot and it would be really nice to see them supported here. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![fncll](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/fncll/32/15995_2.png) [@fncll](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/fncll)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224/20 "2021-12-26T23:03:48Z")
Adding my vote for this too! [Next page](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-definition-lists/224.md?page=2)