Term: op-level domain [TLD]

A top-level domain (or TLD) is that portion of a domain name that appears at the end.

For example, “.com” is a top-level domain, as are “.net”, “.org”, “.edu”, and so on. Technically, the domain names that we use every day – like “askleo.com” – are sub-domains of the top level domain on which they are registered. “askleo” is a sub-domain of “.com”.

Until recently, top-level domains were restricted to a set of common domains (“.com” and so on), and country-specific top-level domains, such as “.ca” for Canada, “.uk” for the United Kingdom, and so on. Changes implemented in recent years have opened up the domain name space to “generic” top-level domains (gTLD), making just about any term acceptable, so we’ll soon be seeing things like “.guru”, “.buy”, “.bargain” and so on.