<defs>

The <defs> element is used to store graphical objects that will be used at a later time. Objects created inside a <defs> element are not rendered directly. To display them you have to reference them (with a <use> element for example).

Graphical objects can be referenced from anywhere, however, defining these objects inside of a <defs> element promotes understandability of the SVG content and is beneficial to the overall accessibility of the document.

html,body,svg { height:100% }

<svg viewBox="0 0 10 10" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
     xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
  <!-- Some graphical objects to use -->
  <defs>
    <circle id="myCircle" cx="0" cy="0" r="5" />

    <linearGradient id="myGradient" gradientTransform="rotate(90)">
      <stop offset="20%" stop-color="gold" />
      <stop offset="90%" stop-color="red" />
    </linearGradient>
  </defs>
 
  <!-- using my graphical objects -->
  <use x="5" y="5" xlink:href="#myCircle" fill="url('#myGradient')" />
</svg>

Attributes

Global attributes

Core Attributes

Most notably: id lang

Styling Attributes

class, style

Event Attributes

Global event attributes, Document element event attributes, Graphical event attributes

Presentation Attributes

Most notably: clip-path, clip-rule, color, color-interpolation, color-rendering, cursor, display, fill, fill-opacity, fill-rule, filter, mask, opacity, pointer-events, shape-rendering, stroke, stroke-dasharray, stroke-dashoffset, stroke-linecap, stroke-linejoin, stroke-miterlimit, stroke-opacity, stroke-width, transform, vector-effect, visibility

Usage notes

Specifications

Browser compatibility