Description Lists

On this page, you’ll learn:

  • How to mark up a description list with AsciiDoc.

  • How to add other AsciiDoc elements to the description content.

Description lists, also known as definition lists, provide a list of terms or phrases and their descriptions.

Description list syntax

Each item in a description list consists of a term or phrase followed by:

  • a separator of two consecutive colons (::),

  • then at least one space or endline,

  • and finally, the description or definition of the item.

Basic description list

Here’s an example of a description list with two terms and their content.

Keyboard::
Used to enter text or control items on the screen. (1)
Mouse:: Used to point to and select items on your computer screen. (2)
1 The term and its description can be placed on separate lines.
2 The term and its description can be placed on the same line as long as there is at least one blank space between the :: and description content.

The description of each item is displayed below the term when rendered.

Keyboard

Used to enter text or control items on the screen.

Mouse

Used to point to and select items on your computer screen.

The content of a description list can be any AsciiDoc element. It can even contain other list types.

Complex description list

Let’s look at an example that includes content other than a single paragraph.

Example 1. A description list including complex content
term 1::
This description needs two paragraphs.
To attach them both to term 1, use a list continuation (+) on the line separating the paragraphs.
+
This is the second paragraph for term 1.

term 2:: This description includes an admonition block.
Like additional paragraphs, blocks also need to be connected with a +.
+
NOTE: An admonition block that is part of term 2's description.

term 3::
* unordered list item
.. ordered list item
... another ordered list item

Here’s the result of the example.

term 1

This description needs two paragraphs. To attach them both to term 1, use a list continuation (+) on the line separating the paragraphs.

This is the second paragraph for term 1.

term 2

This description includes an admonition block. Like additional paragraphs, blocks also need to be connected with a +.

An admonition block that is part of term 2’s description.
term 3

  • unordered list item

    1. ordered list item

      1. another ordered list item

Additional complex list examples and information about attaching multiple blocks to a list item are on the ordered and unordered lists page.

Asciidoctor resources