XML
2 synonyms for XML, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A text format for storing and sending structured data, in which you define your own labels and wrap each piece of information in matching opening and closing tags.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
extensible markup language
markup format
How to use XML
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
XML file
XML feed
parse XML
XML schema
well-formed XML
Take "an" before it in speech: "an XML document". Often described as verbose compared with newer formats.
Etymology
An initialism of extensible markup language, so named because users define their own tags rather than being limited to a fixed set.
Full origin of XML →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between XML and HTML?
HTML has a fixed vocabulary of tags with agreed meanings for displaying documents in a browser. XML lets you invent your own tags to describe data, and says nothing about how that data should look. HTML is for presenting; XML is for carrying information between systems.
What is the difference between XML and JSON?
Both hold structured data as text. XML is more verbose and supports attributes, namespaces and formal schemas; JSON is more compact and maps neatly onto the data structures of most programming languages. JSON is now more common for web APIs, while XML remains widespread in documents, feeds and older enterprise systems.
What does "well-formed" XML mean?
It means the document obeys XML's basic syntax rules: every tag is closed, tags nest properly, and there is a single root element. A parser will refuse a document that is not well-formed, regardless of what the data says.
