CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a cornerstone of modern web design, allowing developers to create visually appealing and responsive web pages. Mastery of CSS involves understanding a range of terms and concepts that are pivotal for effective styling and layout. This article explores 100 commonly used CSS-related words, providing simple explanations and clickable links to Wikipedia for further information.
1. Animation
Explanation: A process of creating movement in web elements through CSS. Learn more.
2. Background
Explanation: The area behind the content of an element, often used to set colors or images. Learn more.
3. Border
Explanation: The line that surrounds an element, which can be styled in various ways. Learn more.
4. Box Model
Explanation: A fundamental concept describing the rectangular boxes generated for elements, consisting of margins, borders, padding, and content. Learn more.
5. Color
Explanation: The property used to set the color of text or backgrounds in CSS. Learn more.
6. Display
Explanation: Determines how an element is displayed on the page, such as block, inline, or flex. Learn more.
7. Flexbox
Explanation: A layout model that allows responsive alignment and distribution of space among items in a container. Learn more.
8. Grid
Explanation: A layout system that uses a grid structure to align and place items on a web page. Learn more.
9. Height
Explanation: The property used to set the height of an element. Learn more.
10. Hover
Explanation: A pseudo-class used to apply styles when the user hovers over an element. Learn more.
11. Margin
Explanation: The space outside the border of an element, used to create space between elements. Learn more.
12. Padding
Explanation: The space inside the border of an element, between the content and the border. Learn more.
13. Position
Explanation: Determines the positioning method of an element, such as static, relative, absolute, or fixed. Learn more.
14. Selector
Explanation: A pattern used to select elements to apply styles to them. Learn more.
15. Text-align
Explanation: Property used to set the horizontal alignment of text within an element. Learn more.
16. Transform
Explanation: A property that allows you to apply transformations like scaling, rotating, or translating to an element. Learn more.
17. Transition
Explanation: A property that allows you to change values smoothly (over a given duration). Learn more.
18. Visibility
Explanation: Determines whether an element is visible or hidden, without removing it from the document flow. Learn more.
19. Width
Explanation: The property used to set the width of an element. Learn more.
20. Z-index
Explanation: Controls the vertical stacking order of elements that overlap. Learn more.
21. Border-radius
Explanation: Property used to create rounded corners for elements. Learn more.
22. Box-shadow
Explanation: Adds shadow effects around an element’s frame. Learn more.
23. Opacity
Explanation: Sets the transparency level of an element. Learn more.
24. Overflow
Explanation: Determines what happens if content overflows an element’s box. Learn more.
25. Font-family
Explanation: Specifies the font of the text within an element. Learn more.
26. Font-size
Explanation: Sets the size of the font. Learn more.
27. Font-weight
Explanation: Defines the thickness of the text characters. Learn more.
28. Letter-spacing
Explanation: Adjusts the space between characters in text. Learn more.
29. Line-height
Explanation: Sets the amount of space between lines of text. Learn more.
30. Text-decoration
Explanation: Applies decoration to text, such as underline, overline, or strikethrough. Learn more.
31. Text-transform
Explanation: Controls the capitalization of text, such as uppercase, lowercase, or capitalize. Learn more.
32. Word-wrap
Explanation: Specifies how words should be broken to fit within a container. Learn more.
33. Background-image
Explanation: Sets an image as the background for an element. Learn more.
34. Background-position
Explanation: Specifies the position of a background image. Learn more.
35. Background-size
Explanation: Defines the size of a background image. Learn more.
36. Border-collapse
Explanation: Specifies whether table borders should be collapsed into a single border or separated. Learn more.
37. Border-spacing
Explanation: Sets the distance between the borders of adjacent cells in a table. Learn more.
38. Caption-side
Explanation: Defines the placement of a table caption. Learn more.
39. Empty-cells
Explanation: Controls the display of borders and backgrounds of empty cells in a table. Learn more.
40. Table-layout
Explanation: Specifies the algorithm to be used for the layout of table cells, rows, and columns. Learn more.
41. Align-items
Explanation: Aligns items within a flex container along the cross axis. Learn more.
42. Align-content
Explanation: Aligns flex container lines within the flex container. Learn more.
43. Justify-content
Explanation: Aligns flex items along the main axis of their container. Learn more.
44. Flex-direction
Explanation: Defines the direction in which flex items are placed in the flex container. Learn more.
45. Flex-wrap
Explanation: Specifies whether flex items should wrap onto multiple lines. Learn more.
46. Grid-template-columns
Explanation: Defines the number and size of columns in a grid layout. Learn more.
47. Grid-template-rows
Explanation: Defines the number and size of rows in a grid layout. Learn more.
48. Grid-area
Explanation: Specifies the size and location of a grid item within a grid layout. Learn more.
49. Grid-column
Explanation: Defines how many columns a grid item should span and its position within the grid. Learn more.
50. Grid-row
Explanation: Defines how many rows a grid item should span and its position within the grid. Learn more.
51. Media Queries
Explanation: Allows CSS to be applied only when certain conditions are met, such as screen size. Learn more.
52. Transform-origin
Explanation: Specifies the point around which a transformation occurs. Learn more.
53. Transition-timing-function
Explanation: Defines the speed curve of a transition effect. Learn more.
54. Animation-timing-function
Explanation: Specifies the speed curve of an animation. Learn more.
55. Grid-gap
Explanation: Sets the gap between rows and columns in a grid layout. Learn more.
56. Flex-grow
Explanation: Defines the ability of a flex item to grow relative to the rest of the flex items. Learn more.
57. Flex-shrink
Explanation: Defines the ability of a flex item to shrink relative to the rest of the flex items. Learn more.
58. Flex-basis
Explanation: Defines the initial size of a flex item before any available space is distributed. Learn more.
59. Place-items
Explanation: A shorthand property to set both align-items and justify-items in a grid container. Learn more.
60. Object-fit
Explanation: Defines how an element’s content should fit within its box. Learn more.
61. Object-position
Explanation: Specifies the position of an element’s content within its box. Learn more.
62. Text-shadow
Explanation: Adds shadow effects to text. Learn more.
63. Filter
Explanation: Applies graphical effects such as blurring or color shifting to an element. Learn more.
64. Clip-path
Explanation: Defines a clipping region to specify which parts of an element are visible. Learn more.
65. Shape-outside
Explanation: Allows text to flow around a shape outside an element’s box. Learn more.
66. Writing-mode
Explanation: Defines whether text is laid out horizontally or vertically. Learn more.
67. Letter-spacing
Explanation: Adjusts the space between characters in text. Learn more.
68. Word-spacing
Explanation: Adjusts the space between words in text. Learn more.
69. Text-indent
Explanation: Specifies the indentation of the first line of text in an element. Learn more.
70. Text-overflow
Explanation: Determines how overflowed text content should be handled. Learn more.
71. Text-transform
Explanation: Controls the capitalization of text. Learn more.
72. Visibility
Explanation: Determines whether an element is visible or hidden, but still occupies space in the layout. Learn more.
73. Background-clip
Explanation: Determines the area within which the background is painted. Learn more.
74. Background-origin
Explanation: Specifies the positioning area of the background image. Learn more.
75. Background-attachment
Explanation: Defines how the background image should behave when scrolling. Learn more.
76. Align-self
Explanation: Allows the default alignment to be overridden for individual flex items. Learn more.
77. Grid-auto-columns
Explanation: Defines the size of implicitly created grid columns. Learn more.
78. Grid-auto-rows
Explanation: Defines the size of implicitly created grid rows. Learn more.
79. Grid-template-areas
Explanation: Defines a grid template by referencing grid areas. Learn more.
80. Grid-column-start
Explanation: Defines a grid item’s start position within a grid column. Learn more.
81. Grid-column-end
Explanation: Defines a grid item’s end position within a grid column. Learn more.
82. Grid-row-start
Explanation: Defines a grid item’s start position within a grid row. Learn more.
83. Grid-row-end
Explanation: Defines a grid item’s end position within a grid row. Learn more.
84. Max-width
Explanation: Sets the maximum width of an element. Learn more.
85. Max-height
Explanation: Sets the maximum height of an element. Learn more.
86. Min-width
Explanation: Sets the minimum width of an element. Learn more.
87. Min-height
Explanation: Sets the minimum height of an element. Learn more.
88. Aspect-ratio
Explanation: Defines the ratio between the width and height of an element. Learn more.
89. Contain
Explanation: Controls what parts of an element’s layout should be contained within its box. Learn more.
90. Mask
Explanation: Defines an image or shape that hides parts of an element. Learn more.
91. Clip-path
Explanation: Defines a clipping region to specify which parts of an element are visible. Learn more.
92. Contain
Explanation: Specifies how an element should be contained within its parent container. Learn more.
93. Text-align-last
Explanation: Specifies how the last line of a block-level element is aligned. Learn more.
94. Resize
Explanation: Defines whether an element can be resized by the user. Learn more.
95. Pointer-events
Explanation: Defines how an element should handle pointer events. Learn more.
96. Scroll-behavior
Explanation: Defines the scrolling behavior for the document. Learn more.
97. User-select
Explanation: Defines whether the user can select text. Learn more.
98. Writing-mode
Explanation: Defines whether text is laid out horizontally or vertically. Learn more.
99. Background-blend-mode
Explanation: Defines how multiple background images should blend with each other. Learn more.
100. Backdrop-filter
Explanation: Applies graphical effects such as blurring to the area behind an element. Learn more.
Conclusion
Understanding these 100 CSS-related terms is essential for any web developer aiming to create well-styled, responsive, and visually appealing websites. Each property and concept plays a crucial role in designing and controlling how content is displayed and interacted with. Mastery of these terms allows developers to leverage CSS’s full potential, ensuring that web pages are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. For more detailed exploration of CSS and its capabilities, refer to the official MDN Web Docs.