<del>

This element should be used for deletion of shorter sequences of text, typically single words or phrases. The delSpan element should be used for longer sequences of text, for those containing structural subdivisions, and for those containing overlapping additions and deletions.

The text deleted must be at least partially legible in order for the encoder to be able to transcribe it (unless it is restored in a supplied tag). Illegible or lost text within a deletion may be marked using the gap tag to signal that text is present but has not been transcribed, or is no longer visible. Attributes on the gap element may be used to indicate how much text is omitted, the reason for omitting it, etc. If text is not fully legible, the unclear element (available when using the additional tagset for transcription of primary sources) should be used to signal the areas of text which cannot be read with confidence in a similar way.

Degrees of uncertainty over what can still be read, or whether a deletion was intended may be indicated by use of the certainty element (see Certainty, Precision, and Responsibility).

There is a clear distinction in the TEI between del and surplus on the one hand and gap or unclear on the other. del indicates a deletion present in the source being transcribed, which states the author's or a later scribe's intent to cancel or remove text. surplus indicates material present in the source being transcribed which should have been so deleted, but which is not in fact. gap or unclear, by contrast, signal an editor's or encoder's decision to omit something or their inability to read the source text. See sections Text Omitted from or Supplied in the Transcription and Use of the for the relationship between these and other related elements used in detailed transcription.