Defining 'markup'

Markup refers to the sequence of characters or other symbols that are inserted at certain places in a text or word processing file.

Presentational Markup
  • Embedding of codes in the text expressing font, size, color etc.
  • Examples are MS Word and other word processing systems.
Descriptive Markup
  • The markup doesn't tell you what to do with a piece of text, it tells you what it is, describes it. Another term could be "labeling".
  • Examples: XML (and its predecessor SGML).
  • Descriptive markup was born in the world of publishing technology, and has many advantages for serious large-scale publishing.
Exegi monumentum aere perennius.

Markup can be used to say:
descriptive This is a quote, in Latin, from Horatius´ Carmina.
presentational Display this text in italics with Arial font.