| uniform type = {{mono|public.mathml.content}}ml">
| conforms to = {{mono|public.mathml}}
| extended from = [[#Generic MathML|Generic MathML]]
}}
Content MathML focuses on the semantics, or meaning, of the expression rather than its layout. Central to Content MathML is the {{code|lang=XML|<apply>}} element that represents function application. The function being applied is the first child element under {{code|lang=XML|<apply>}}, and its operands or parameters are the remaining child elements. Content MathML uses only a few attributes.
Tokens such as identifiers and numbers are individually marked up, much as for Presentation MathML, but with elements such as {{code|lang=XML|<ci>}} and {{code|lang=XML|<cn>}}. Rather than being merely another type of token, operators are represented by specific elements, whose mathematical semantics are known to MathML: {{code|lang=XML|<times>}}, {{code|lang=XML|<power>}}, etc. There are over a hundred different elements for different functions and operators.<ref>{{cite web
For example, {{code|lang=XML|<apply><sin/><ci>x</ci></apply>}} represents <math>\sin(x)</math> and {{code|lang=XML|<apply><plus/><ci>x</ci><cn>5</cn></apply>}} represents <math>x+5</math>. The elements representing operators and functions are empty elements, because their operands are the other elements under the containing {{code|lang=XML|<apply>}}.
The expression <math>a x^2+b x+c</math> could be represented as
