A Document Type Definition (DTD) is a set of markup declarations that define a document type for SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents. It specifies the structure, elements, attributes, and entities that can be used in a document conforming to that DTD. DTDs are used to validate XML documents, ensuring they adhere to a specific format and structure. They define the rules for how elements can be nested, which attributes are allowed for each element, and the data types of those attributes. While DTDs were widely used in the early days of XML, they have limitations, such as a lack of support for data types beyond strings and difficulty in expressing complex relationships. As a result, XML Schema Definition (XSD) and other schema languages have become more popular for defining XML document structures. However, DTDs are still encountered, particularly in older XML applications and legacy systems. They provide a formal way to describe the grammar of an XML document, enabling parsers and applications to process the document correctly.