What is the meaning of "cascading' in CSS?

Wondering picture Wondering · Jun 25, 2009 · Viewed 88.7k times · Source

What's the exact meaning of the term "Cascading" in CSS? I am getting different views, so I ask here. An example would help.

Answer

seanyboy picture seanyboy · Jun 25, 2009

"Cascading" in this context means that because more than one stylesheet declaration could apply to a particular piece of HTML, there has to be a known way of determining which specific stylesheet rule applies to which piece of HTML.

The rule used is chosen by cascading down from the more general declarations to the specific rule required. The most specific declaration is chosen.