## .offsetParent()Returns: jQuery

Description: Get the closest ancestor element that is positioned.

- #### version added: 1.2.6.offsetParent()

  - This method does not accept any arguments.

Given a jQuery object that represents a set of DOM elements, the `.offsetParent()` method allows us to search through the ancestors of these elements in the DOM tree and construct a new jQuery object wrapped around the closest positioned ancestor. An element is said to be positioned if it has a CSS position attribute of `relative`, `absolute`, or `fixed`. This information is useful for calculating offsets for performing animations and placing objects on the page.

Consider a page with a basic nested list on it, with a positioned element:

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    <ul class="level-1">  <li class="item-i">I</li>  <li class="item-ii" style="position: relative;">II    <ul class="level-2">      <li class="item-a">A</li>      <li class="item-b">B        <ul class="level-3">          <li class="item-1">1</li>          <li class="item-2">2</li>          <li class="item-3">3</li>        </ul>      </li>      <li class="item-c">C</li>    </ul>  </li>  <li class="item-iii">III</li></ul>

If we begin at item A, we can find its positioned ancestor:

1 |
    $( "li.item-a" ).offsetParent().css( "background-color", "red" );

This will change the color of list item II, which is positioned.

## Example:

Find the offsetParent of item "A."

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    <!doctype html><html lang="en"><head>  <meta charset="utf-8">  <title>offsetParent demo</title>  <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script></head><body> <ul class="level-1">  <li class="item-i">I</li>  <li class="item-ii" style="position: relative;">II    <ul class="level-2">      <li class="item-a">A</li>      <li class="item-b">B        <ul class="level-3">          <li class="item-1">1</li>          <li class="item-2">2</li>          <li class="item-3">3</li>        </ul>      </li>      <li class="item-c">C</li>    </ul>  </li>  <li class="item-iii">III</li></ul> <script>$( "li.item-a" ).offsetParent().css( "background-color", "red" );</script> </body></html>

#### Demo: