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var – variable

<var>x</var>

A variable: an unknown in a formula, a variable in a program or a placeholder that the reader replaces with their own value. The browser displays it in italics.

Default display: display: inline
End tag: required
Content: phrasing content
Where it can be used: anywhere phrasing content is allowed
DOM interface: HTMLElement

Attributes

Only global attributes.

Examples

A formula and a placeholder:

<p>The area of a rectangle is <var>a</var> · <var>b</var>.</p>
<p>The profile URL is <code>https://www.example.com/user/<var>name</var>/</code>.</p>

result

The area of a rectangle is a · b.

The profile URL is https://www.example.com/user/name/.

Things to watch out for

Complex formulas are written in MathML (the math element); var is suitable for individual variables in the text.
The name of a variable in a program is more often written as code; var inside code marks the part the reader replaces.

Browser support

Baseline – widely available: works in all major browsers and has for a long time (since 2015 at the latest). Since version: Chrome 1, Firefox 1, Safari 4. As of October 2026 (MDN browser-compat-data).