var

Represents a variable in mathematics or programming, visually distinguished with italic style and accent color.

Description

The <var> element represents a variable in a mathematical expression or programming context. VB styles it with italic text and var(--color-interactive) to visually distinguish it from general italic text like . It is part of VB's code-family and is automatically protected from machine translation via the i18n system.

When to Use

Mathematical variables: x, y, n, π in equations
Programming variables: Variable names referenced in prose
Placeholders: User-supplied values in instructions (e.g., your-api-key)

When NOT to Use

For emphasis — use 
For code identifiers (function names, classes) — use <code>
For keyboard input — use <kbd>
For program output — use <samp>

Examples

var vs em vs code

All three render distinctly in VB:

Element	Rendering	Use Case
`<var>`	Italic + `--color-interactive`	Variables, placeholders
`<em>`	Italic only	Stress emphasis
`<code>`	Monospace + background	Code identifiers, inline code

CSS Reference

The accent color makes variables scannable in technical prose without the visual weight of <code>'s background. The translate: no prevents machine translation from mangling variable names.

Accessibility

Screen readers do not announce <var> differently from surrounding text
The accent color is a visual cue only — context should make the variable clear
For complex math where variables are critical, consider MathML or aria-label

<code> — Code identifiers and inline code (shared var(--font-mono))
<kbd> — Keyboard input
<samp> — Sample program output
 — Emphasis (not variables)
 — Exponents alongside variables
 — Subscripts for indexed variables
Internationalization — Translation protection for code-family elements

var