<sup>: The Superscript element - HTML

`Superior lettering`

Superior lettering is not technically the same thing as superscript. However, it is common to use to present superior lettering in HTML. Among the most common uses of superior lettering is the presentation of certain abbreviations in French:

html Robert a présenté son rapport à M^lle Bernard. Result

`Ordinal numbers`

Ordinal numbers, such as "fourth" in English or "quinto" in Spanish may be abbreviated using numerals and language-specific text rendered in superscript:

html The ordinal number "fifth" can be abbreviated in various languages as follows: English: 5^th French: 5^ème Result

`Technical summary`

Content categories	Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Phrasing content.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts phrasing content.
Implicit ARIA role	`superscript`
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	`HTMLElement`

`Specifications`

Specification
HTML # the-sub-and-sup-elements

`Browser compatibility`

See also The HTML element that produces subscripts. Note that you cannot use sub and sup at the same time: you need to use MathML to produce both a superscript and a subscript next to the chemical symbol of an element, representing its atomic number and its nuclear number. The , , and MathML elements. The CSS vertical-align property. Help improve MDN Was this page helpful to you? Learn how to contribute.This page was last modified on Apr 10, 2025 by MDN contributors. View this page on GitHub • Report a problem with this content