## Text Encoding Initiative

### The XML Version of the TEI Guidelines

# <desc>

`<desc>` | (description) (in a writing system declaration) contains a description of a character or character form.
Attributes | Global attributes only

Example

    <form string="a">
      <desc>Latin lower-case letter A</desc>
    </form>

    <form string="&#xF8FF;" entityLoc="infinity">
      <desc>author's private symbol for infinity: a parabola open to the right,
        with a dot at its focal point. In general, the character rests on the
        base line and rises to about the height of a typical ascender.</desc>
    </form>

Note | The `<desc>` element should usually contain the name of the character or character form; in some cases further information (e.g. the description of the character's shape) will be useful, as shown in the example.
Module | Declared in file teiwsd2; Auxiliary tag set for Writing System Declarations
Data Description | May contain character data only.
May contain | #PCDATA
May occur within |

Declaration

    <!ELEMENT desc %om.RO;  (#PCDATA)>
    <!ATTLIST desc
          %a.global;>

See further | 25.4.2 Exceptions in the WSD

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