What does HTML stand for?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, the standard language used to structure documents on the web.

HTML tells a browser what different parts of a page mean: headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, forms, and more. It uses elements written with tags, such as <h1> for a main heading and <a> for a hyperlink. Browsers interpret those tags and display the resulting page.

Tim Berners-Lee developed HTML at CERN while creating the World Wide Web. The first public description, “HTML Tags,” appeared in 1991, and the first formal HTML specification was proposed in 1993. HTML was influenced by SGML, a more general markup system for structured documents.

HTML is often confused with CSS and JavaScript. HTML supplies structure and meaning, CSS controls presentation and layout, and JavaScript adds behavior and interactivity. Although HTML code can power complex applications, it is a markup language rather than a programming language.