What Does HTML Tag Mean?

An HTML tag is commonly defined as a set of characters constituting a formatted command for a Web page. At the core of HTML, tags provide the directions or recipes for the visual content that one sees on the Web.

Techopedia Explains HTML Tag

HTML tags have always been important in the history of Web design. During the early days of the World Wide Web, they were responsible for a majority of Web code. That may not be the case anymore, but HTML tags are still at the center of how Web pages are formatted. Other kinds of languages have been built around the backbone of HTML, such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which makes it easier to create consistent and overarching styles and color schemes.