The Motive Web Design Glossary

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

HyperText Markup Language is used to create documents (web pages) that can be viewed through a web browser.

The language comprises elements and attributes that are used to structure and format content.

HTML 5 vs XHTML 2 (Belus Technology)
As uses for the web increase so does the pressure to extend the HTML language. The two contendors for the next version of the language are HTML 5 and XHTML 2.
HTML 5 Elements and Attributes/Web Applications Working Draft 1.0 (WHATWG)
This Working Draft to extend the HTML language to account for contemporary web content and services (circa 2007). Note that this document does not represent a standard that is currently supported by web browsers, but rather is a pointer as to where the language might go.
Plain Old Semantic HTML (POSH), (Microformats)
Well-intentioned manifesto promoting the use of semantic X(HTML) elements and attributes. ‘Well-intentioned’ in that the term POSH muddies the waters regarding the limitations of XHTML as a semantic (rather than structural) language.
For example, while <strong> and <em> elements are an easy way of transcribing speech, as they suggest the qualities of spoken language, they are no clearer in expressing meaning than <b> or <i> elements.
A preview of HTML 5 (Lachlan Hunt, A List Apart)
4 Dec 2007: A Snapshot of some of the features proposed for HTML 5: new structural elements including <header>, <nav> and <footer>; native support for audio and video media types; and a change to the document structure.