The
<cite>tag is used to define the title of a creative work, such as a book, painting, movie, website, or research paper.
Browsers usually display the text in italic by default.
It provides semantic meaning to the title of a referenced work.
Syntax
<cite>Title of the Work</cite>Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
class | Assigns one or more class names for CSS styling. |
id | Specifies a unique identifier for the element. |
style | Adds inline CSS styling. |
title | Displays additional information on hover. |
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Cite Tag Example</title>
<style>
cite {
font-style: italic;
color: #2c3e50;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>HTML <cite> Tag Example</h1>
<p>
The painting <cite title="Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci">Mona Lisa</cite> is one of the most famous artworks in the world.
</p>
<p>
The movie <cite class="film" id="inception" style="color:#e67e22;">Inception</cite> directed by Christopher Nolan received critical acclaim.
</p>
</body>
</html>Output
Browser Output
Use our TryIt Editor to see the output.
Browser Support
 Chrome |  Firefox |  Edge |  Safari |  Opera |  IE9+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✅Yes | ✅Yes | ✅Yes | ✅Yes | ✅Yes | ✅Yes |
The cited text appears in italic style by default. The title attribute is visible when hovering over the element.
Notes
- The
<cite>tag should be used only for titles of works, not for people’s names. - It is inline and does not introduce a line break.
- You can override the default italic style using CSS.
- Adds semantic meaning useful for accessibility and search engines.
Conclusion
The <cite> tag identifies the title of a creative or referenced work, displaying it in italic by default.
It helps convey meaning to both users and search engines by marking important referenced material.
