HTML full form: Hypertext Markup Language

How to say it: letter by letter.

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It is the language in which web pages are written. Every page you open in a browser, including this one, is an HTML document.

Taking the name apart

• Hypertext is text that contains links to other text. Clicking a link takes you to another page: that is what makes the web a web.
• Markup means marking parts of a document to say what they are: this is a heading, this is a paragraph, this is a link.
• Language: a fixed set of such marks, with rules.

Tags

The marks are called tags and are written inside angle brackets. Most come in pairs, an opening tag and a closing tag, around the content:

<h1>My first page</h1>
<p>Hello. This is a <a href="page2.html">link</a>.</p>

Here h1 marks a main heading, p a paragraph and a an anchor, which is a link.

HTML is not a programming language

HTML describes the structure of a page. It does not calculate or take decisions. A web page is normally made with three languages together:

• HTML for the content and structure.
• CSS, Cascading Style Sheets, for the appearance.
• JavaScript for behaviour, such as what happens when a button is pressed.

History in one line

HTML was created by Tim Berners-Lee around 1990 at CERN, the European physics laboratory, as part of his invention of the World Wide Web. The current version is called HTML5.

Related full forms

• HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
• URL: Uniform Resource Locator.
• WWW: World Wide Web.
• W3C: World Wide Web Consortium.
• XML: Extensible Markup Language.

More computers and internet full forms

• ICT Information and Communication Technology
• CD Compact Disc
• DVD Digital Versatile Disc
• LED Light Emitting Diode
• LCD Liquid Crystal Display
• OLED Organic Light Emitting Diode
• HD High Definition
• KB Kilobyte

All computers and internet Next: CGPA explained

Check what matters. These pages explain names and terms in general. Rules, dates, fees and limits change: take them from the official body. Read on 12 November 2026.