HTML has three list types, each with a semantic meaning. Using the right one helps accessibility (screen readers announce "list, 3 items") and structure.
Unordered list — order doesn't matter
html
Apples
Bananas
Cherries
Renders with bullets by default. Use for navigation menus, feature lists, tags — anything where sequence isn't meaningful.
<ol type="1" start="1">
<li>Preheat the oven</li>
<li>Mix ingredients</li>
<li>Bake for 20 minutes</li>
</ol>
Renders with numbers. Use for steps, rankings, instructions. Attributes: type (1, a, A, i, I), start (first number), reversed.
<dl>
<dt>HTML</dt>
<dd>The markup language for web pages.</dd>
<dt>CSS</dt>
<dd>The styling language for web pages.</dd>
</dl>
<dt> is the term, <dd> its description — great for glossaries, metadata, and key/value pairs.
<nav>
<ul>
<li><a href="/">Home</a>
<ul><li><a href="/sub">Sub-page</a></li></ul> <!-- nested submenu -->
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
Navigation menus are conventionally marked up as a <ul> inside <nav>.
Lists aren't just for bullets — they give content structure that screen readers announce and that you can style freely (the default markers are easily removed with CSS).
Choosing <ul> vs <ol> vs <dl> communicates meaning: unordered, sequential, or term-definition.