Typically, a single entry in an itemized or ordered list. In a two-part list (<variablelist>), this element is used to contain the definition or description of a term.
On display or in print, a typical list entry may be preceded by a prefix character, such as a bullet or a number. This character is determined by the “list” element containing the entry, e.g., the <orderedlist> for a numbered list.
One or more of any of:
In an Itemized List:
...
<section><title>Securing a Permanent Colony in the Claimed Lands</title>
<para>With land claimed in the New World, an expedition was
mounted to establish a settlement. ...</para>
...
<section><title>Native Plants and Wildlife</title>
<para>... The settlers discovered that while some roots could
be eaten much in appearance as they were dug, others had to be
boiled before use as a foodstuff. As more fully described below,
other plants included beans, and several crops previously unknown
to the Europeans:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>“macocqwer” (gourds),</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>“melden” (an herb),</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>“planta solis” (sunflower — used in a type of
bread, as well as for broth),</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>peas (powdered in a mortar), and</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>potatoes.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<section><title>Gourds</title>
<para>The native people grew a variety of large broad-leafed,
ground-covering vines which produced what they called “macocqwer”
or gourds. (<emphasis role="ital">See</emphasis> <xref linkend="gourds"/>.)
Varying in color among shades of green, yellow, and orange, these
gourds served a number of functions, not chief of which was as a
food source. ...</para>
...
</section>
...
</section>
</section>
...
In a Variable List:
...
<para>Information processing, especially text markup, was primitive in the colony.
For example, most text stores were in XML! Documents may have looked like this:
<programlisting>
<teiHeader>
<fileDesc>
<titleStmt>
<title>Farming in the New World</title>
...
</titleStmt>
</fileDesc>
</teiHeader>
</programlisting>
Notice the paired Tags: <code><title></code> and <code></title></code>
and the primitive use of indenting. Unusual features of the colonists data
processing practices included:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Tags</term>
<listitem><para>Meaningful descriptions of the information enclosed by the
markers</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Balance</term>
<listitem><para>All markup is both opened and closed (or explicitely
empty)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
...
balisage-1-1