The **`<dfn>`** [HTML](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML) element is used to indicate the term being defined within the context of a definition phrase or sentence. The ancestor [`p`](p!) element, the [`dt`](dt!)/[`dd`](dd!) pairing, or the nearest [`section`](section!) ancestor of the `<dfn>` element, is considered to be the definition of the term.