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html element

`<small>` HTML side comment element

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The <small> HTML element represents side-comments and small print, like copyright and legal text, independent of its styled presentation. By default, it renders text within it one font-size smaller, such as from small to x-small.

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.
<p>
  MDN Web Docs is a learning platform for Web technologies and the software that
  powers the Web.
</p>

<hr />

<p>
  <small
    >The content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5
    Generic License.</small
  >
</p>

small {
  font-size: 0.7em;
}

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Examples

Basic usage

<p>
  This is the first sentence.
  <small>This whole sentence is in small letters.</small>
</p>

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

CSS alternative

<p>
  This is the first sentence.
  <span class="small">This whole sentence is in small letters.</span>
</p>

.small {
  font-size: 0.8em;
}

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Notes

Although the <small> element, like the <b> and <i> elements, may be perceived to violate the principle of separation between structure and presentation, all three are valid in HTML. Authors are encouraged to use their best judgement when determining whether to use <small> or CSS.

Technical summary

Content categories Flow content, phrasing content.
Permitted content Phrasing content
Tag omission None; must have both a start tag and an end tag.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts phrasing content, or any element that accepts flow content.
Implicit ARIA role generic
Permitted ARIA roles Any
DOM interface [`HTMLElement`](/firefox/mdn/api/htmlelement/)

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also