Tag vs. Label: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on October 11, 2023
Tag is a keyword or term assigned to a piece of information while Label is a descriptor or title that gives information about something.
Key Differences
In the realm of organizational frameworks, both tags and labels are used to categorize or identify information. A tag is generally a keyword or phrase that is assigned to a piece of information, which helps to describe it and allows it to be found again. Labels, conversely, serve a more explanatory or descriptive role, offering direct information or instructions related to the item or data to which they are affixed.
Within social media or blogging contexts, a tag is often a word or phrase used to identify or categorize posts, making them easily discoverable to users interested in that topic. Labels, however, are not typically utilized in these platforms in the same way. Still, they may act as identifiers in a different manner, perhaps within a product or file description, imparting key information or descriptors about that item.
In programming or coding, a tag usually refers to a specific code snippet that provides instructions about how data should be processed or displayed. In contrast, a label might be utilized within a user interface (UI) or design program, indicating specific components or features with which the user should interact or take note of.
In an e-commerce or retail environment, a tag might be an electronic piece, such as an RFID tag, assisting in tracking and identifying products. On the other hand, a label might be affixed to a product and offer vital information, such as price, size, and barcode, which assists both customers and staff in identifying and purchasing items.
In data management or file organization systems, tags assist users in locating and organizing data by categorizing it under certain keywords or phrases. Labels could pertain to physical or digital markers that provide more explicit, at-a-glance information about the data, perhaps indicating its status, importance, or content type.
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Comparison Chart
Basic Definition
A keyword for categorization.
A descriptor providing information.
Usage in Blogs/Social Media
Helps categorize and discover posts.
Rarely used for post categorization.
Usage in Coding
Code that specifies how data should be displayed/processed.
Identifies UI elements or data components.
Usage in Retail
Often electronic, aiding in product tracking/identification.
Provides explicit product information (price, size, etc.)
Information Type
Generally does not convey explicit information about an item.
Offers direct, usually vital, information about an item/data.
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Tag and Label Definitions
Tag
A small piece of material attached to an item for identification.
The luggage tag displayed her contact information.
Label
A company that produces recorded music.
The artist was thrilled to sign with a major record label.
Tag
To mark graffiti with a personal signature.
The wall was tagged with vibrant colors and shapes.
Label
A classifying phrase or name applied to a person or thing.
People often use the label millennials to describe a certain generation.
Tag
A strip of leather, paper, metal, or plastic attached to something or hung from a wearer's neck to identify, classify, or label
Sale tags on all coats and dresses.
Label
A graphical UI element.
Click the label next to the checkbox for more information.
Tag
The plastic or metal tip at the end of a shoelace.
Label
An item used to identify something or someone, as a small piece of paper or cloth attached to an article to designate its origin, owner, contents, use, or destination.
Tag
The contrastingly colored tip of an animal's tail.
Label
A descriptive term; an epithet.
Tag
A dirty, matted lock of wool.
Label
A distinctive name or trademark identifying a product or manufacturer, especially a recording company.
Tag
A loose lock of hair.
Label
(Architecture) A molding over a door or window; a dripstone.
Tag
A rag; a tatter.
Label
(Heraldry) A figure in a field consisting of a narrow horizontal bar with several pendants.
Tag
A small, loose fragment
I heard only tags and snippets of what was being said.
Label
(Chemistry) See tracer.
Tag
An ornamental flourish, especially at the end of a signature.
Label
To attach a label to
Labeled the jars before storing them.
Tag
A designation or epithet, especially an unwelcome one
He did not take kindly to the tag of pauper.
Label
To identify or designate with a descriptive term; describe or classify
"He missed two crucial penalty kicks ... and was labeled a loser by the previously loyal British press" (Phil Ball).
Tag
A brief quotation used in a discourse to give it an air of erudition or authority
Shakespearean tags.
Label
(Chemistry) To add a tracer to (a compound).
Tag
A cliché, saw, or similar short, conventional idea used to embellish a discourse
These tags of wit and wisdom bore me.
Label
A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
We laughed at her because the label was still on her new sweater.
The label says this silk scarf should not be washed in the washing machine.
Although the label priced this poster at three pounds, I got it for two.
Tag
The refrain or last lines of a song or poem.
Label
A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.
Ever since he started going to the rock club, he's been given the label "waster".
Tag
The closing lines of a speech in a play; a cue.
Label
(music) A company that sells records.
The label signed the band after hearing a demo tape.
Tag
A label assigned to identify data in memory.
Label
(computing) A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.
Storage devices can be given by label or ID.
Tag
A sequence of characters in a markup language used to provide information, such as formatting specifications, about a document.
Label
(computing) A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
Tag
A metatag.
Label
(heraldry) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
Tag
(Anatomy) A small outgrowth or polyp
A skin tag.
Label
(obsolete) A tassel.
Tag
(Slang) A piece of graffiti featuring text, especially the author's name, rather than a picture
“Instead of a cursive linear tag, Super Kool painted his name along the exterior of a subway car in huge block pink and yellow letters” (Eric Scigliano).
Label
A small strip, especially of paper or parchment (or of some material attached to parchment to carry the seal), but also of iron, brass, land, etc.
Tag
(Games) A children's game in which one player pursues the others until that player is able to touch one of the other players, who then in turn becomes the pursuer.
Label
A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
Tag
(Baseball) The act of tagging a base runner.
Label
(historical) A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.
Tag
(Sports) The act of tagging a ball carrier in touch football.
Label
(architecture) The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
Tag
To label, identify, or recognize with a tag or other identifier
I tagged him as a loser.
Label
In mediaeval and later art, a representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
Tag
To put a ticket on (a motor vehicle) for a traffic or parking violation.
Label
(graphical user interface) A non-interactive control or widget displaying text, often used to describe the purpose of another control.
Tag
To add as an appendage to
Tagged an extra paragraph on the letter.
Label
(transitive) To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).
The shop assistant labeled all the products in the shop.
Tag
To follow closely
Excited children tagged the circus parade to the end of its route.
Label
(ditransitive) To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.
He's been unfairly labeled as a cheat, although he's only ever cheated once.
Tag
To cut the tags from (sheep).
Label
(biochemistry) To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
Tag
To add a taggant to
Explosives that were tagged with coded microscopic bits of plastic.
Label
(biochemistry) To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro
Tag
To incorporate into (a compound) a more readily detected substance whereby the compound can be detected and its metabolic or chemical history followed.
Label
A tassel.
Tag
(Slang) To mark or vandalize (a surface) with a graffiti tag
Tagged the subway walls.
Label
A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything, and indicating, usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.; as, the label of a bottle or a package.
Tag
To follow after; accompany
Tagged after me everywhere.
Insisted on tagging along.
Label
A slip of ribbon, parchment, etc., attached to a document to hold the appended seal; also, the seal.
Tag
To touch (another player) in the game of tag.
Label
A writing annexed by way of addition, as a codicil added to a will.
Tag
(Baseball) To touch (a base runner) with the ball in order to make a putout.
Label
A barrulet, or, rarely, a bendlet, with pendants, or points, usually three, especially used as a mark of cadency to distinguish an eldest or only son while his father is still living.
Tag
(Sports) To touch (a ball carrier) to end a play in touch football.
Label
A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with a circumferentor, to take altitudes.
Tag
A small label.
Label
The name now generally given to the projecting molding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediæval architecture. It always has a square form, as in the illustration.
Tag
A children's chasing game in which one player (known as "it") attempts to touch another, who then becomes "it".
Label
In mediæval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
Tag
A skin tag, an excrescence of skin.
Label
To affix a label to; to mark with a name, etc.; as, to label a bottle or a package.
Tag
A type of cardboard.
Label
To affix in or on a label.
Tag
Graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist.
Label
A brief description given for purposes of identification;
The label Modern is applied to many different kinds of architecture
Tag
A dangling lock of sheep's wool, matted with dung; a dung tag.
Label
Trade name of a company that produces musical recordings;
The artists and repertoire department of a recording label is responsible for finding new talent
Tag
An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said") or attributed words (e.g. "he thought").
Label
A radioactive isotope that is used in a compound in order to trace the mechanism of a chemical reaction
Tag
(music) The last line (or last two lines) of a song's chorus that is repeated to indicate the end of the song.
Label
An identifying or descriptive marker that is attached to an object
Tag
(television) The last scene of a TV program, often focusing on the program's subplot.
Cold open
Label
Assign a label to; designate with a label;
These students were labelled `learning disabled'
Tag
A vehicle number plate; a medal bearing identification data (animals, soldiers).
The subwoofer in the trunk was so loud, it vibrated the tag like an aluminum can.
Label
Attach a tag or label to;
Label these bottles
Tag
(baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand to rule him "out."
The tag was applied at second for the final out.
Label
Pronounce judgment on;
They labeled him unfit to work here
Tag
(computing) A piece of markup representing an element in a markup language.
The
<title> tag provides a title for the Web page.The
<sarcasm> tag conveys sarcasm in Internet slang.Label
Distinguish (as a compound or molecule) by introducing a labeled atom
Tag
(computing) A keyword, term, or phrase associated with or assigned to data, media, and/or information enabling keyword-based classification; often used to categorize content.
I want to add genre and artist tags to the files in my music collection.
Label
Distinguish (an element or atom) by using a radioactive isotope or an isotope of unusual mass for tracing through chemical reactions
Tag
Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely.
Label
A small piece of paper, fabric, or other material that gives information about something.
She read the label on the dress to check the washing instructions.
Tag
A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
Label
To name or describe somebody/something in a specified way.
They label him as a traitor, but there’s more to the story.
Tag
The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
Tag
Something mean and paltry; the rabble.
Tag
A sheep in its first year.
Tag
(biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.
Tag
(slang) A person's name.
What's your tag?
Tag
A decoration drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls.
Tag
(transitive) To label (something).
Tag
To mark (something) with one’s tag.
Tag
(transitive) To remove dung tags from a sheep.
Regularly tag the rear ends of your sheep.
He really tagged that ball.
Tag
To have sex with someone (especially a man of a woman)
Steve is dying to tag Angie from chemistry class.
Tag
To put a runner out by touching them with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.
He tagged the runner for the out.
Tag
To mark with a tag (metadata for classification).
I am tagging my music files by artist and genre.
Tag
To follow closely, accompany, tag along.
Tag
(transitive) To catch and touch (a player in the game of tag).
Tag
(transitive) To fit with, or as if with, a tag or tags.
Tag
To fasten; to attach.
Tag
Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely; specifically, a direction card, or label.
Tag
A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
Tag
The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
Tag
Something mean and paltry; the rabble.
Tag
A sheep of the first year.
Tag
A child's play in which one runs after and touches another, and then runs away to avoid being touched.
Tag
To fit with, or as with, a tag or tags.
He learned to make long-tagged thread laces.
His courteous host . . . Tags every sentence with some fawning word.
Tag
To join; to fasten; to attach.
Tag
To follow closely after; esp., to follow and touch in the game of tag. See Tag, a play.
Tag
To follow closely, as it were an appendage; - often with after; as, to tag after a person.
Tag
A label made of cardboard or plastic or metal
Tag
A small piece of cloth or paper
Tag
A game in which one child chases the others; the one who is caught becomes the next chaser
Tag
(sports) the act of touching a player in a game (which changes their status in the game)
Tag
Attach a tag or label to;
Label these bottles
Tag
Touch a player while he is holding the ball
Tag
Provide with a name or nickname
Tag
Go after with the intent to catch;
The policeman chased the mugger down the alley
The dog chased the rabbit
Tag
Supply (blank verse or prose) with rhymes
Tag
A piece of code embedded in a webpage.
Ensure the ad tag is placed correctly in the HTML to display the advertisement.
Tag
A keyword attached to a blog post or photo.
He forgot to add a travel tag to his blog post.
Tag
A playground game where one person chases the others.
The children energetically played tag in the park.
FAQs
What is a general definition of "Tag"?
A "Tag" typically refers to a keyword or term assigned to a piece of information to categorize or identify it.
How are tags used in blogging or on social media platforms?
Tags are used to categorize content and make it discoverable by grouping related posts together via keywords.
How are labels utilized in a retail setting?
In retail, labels are attached to products to provide vital information, such as price, size, and ingredients.
Can "Tag" have a physical form?
Yes, tags can be physical, like a luggage tag that provides information about the luggage owner.
How is "Label" commonly defined?
A "Label" is a descriptor or title that provides information about the object or item it is attached to.
Can tags have different meanings in various contexts, such as in HTML and in a game?
Absolutely, in HTML a tag refers to code commands, while in a game, "Tag" refers to a playful activity of chasing and touching.
How do tags assist in web development?
In web development, tags (HTML tags) are used to define elements and structure the content on web pages.
Is a label always a physical entity?
No, labels can be digital, like those used in email systems to categorize messages.
How does a nutrition label serve consumers?
A nutrition label provides information about the nutritional content of food, helping consumers make informed dietary choices.
What’s the role of a tag in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Tags help in categorizing content and are utilized by search engines to determine the relevancy of content during user searches.
What’s a record label?
A record label is a company that produces and distributes musical recordings.
Can a label be informal in its usage, like tags?
Generally, no, labels tend to provide specific, often regulated information and are thus formal and standardized.
Are labels in computer science and retail the same?
No, in computer science, a label might refer to an element in a GUI, while in retail it’s often a piece of paper or plastic providing information.
How does tagging photos in a digital library assist?
Tagging photos helps in organizing, categorizing, and retrieving images efficiently from a digital library.
How do labels in a programming context aid developers?
In programming, labels may identify elements or data and assist developers in managing and manipulating the related code.
What does "to tag someone" mean in social media context?
"Tagging" someone on social media refers to linking their profile to a post or image, often to attribute it to them or draw their attention.
Can labels influence consumer purchasing decisions?
Yes, labels providing product information like price and features can significantly impact consumer choices and purchasing behavior.
Are labels always necessary on products?
In most cases, yes, to comply with consumer protection laws and provide essential information to the buyer.
Can a tag be used to track items?
Yes, tags, especially RFID tags, are used in various industries to track items and inventory.
Can a tag contain multiple words?
Yes, tags can consist of single or multiple words, like “vacation” or “summer vacation.”
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
