Question: I know semantic tags were added in HTML5.

So isn't the table tag in HTML4 not a semantic tag?

Can only tags such as header, section, article, etc. added in HTML5 be called semantic tags?

I'm really curious.

Answer: 
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> I know semantic tags were added in HTML5.
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HTML 5 did add new semantic elements

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> So isn't the table tag in HTML4 not a semantic tag?
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Incorrect. It is a semantic element.

> 
> Can only tags such as header, section, article, etc. added in HTML5 be called semantic tags?
> 
> 
> 

No.

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Semantic elements have *always* been part of HTML.

HTML 4 was notable in that it did a lot of work cleaning up the semantic features of the language (e.g. deprecating `font` and `center`).
well Semantic html is html that introduces meaning to the web page rather than just presentation. For example, a `<p>` tag indicates that the enclosed text is a paragraph. This is both semantic and presentational because people know what paragraphs are, and browsers know how to display them. A semantic element clearly describes its meaning to both the browser and the developer. here you can see html5 semantic elements
<https://webflow.com/blog/html5-semantic-elements-and-webflow-the-essential-guide>

considering that CSS wasn’t introduced until the end of 1996 styling options were very limited developers found solutions by building the interface layout using tables. As CSS matured the table-based layout was replaced by the based layout, which allegedly solved the semantic contradiction in the cases that layout was conveyed as table data. so it is safe to say that table in html4 was a semantic element. you can also check the link below to read more about it:
<https://www.evinced.com/blog/its-just-a-matter-of-semantics/>