Adhesive tape is one of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive

Adhesive

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

. Several types of adhesives can be used.
Pressure sensitive tape

Pressure sensitive tape, PSA tape, self stick tape or sticky tape consists of a pressure sensitive adhesive

Pressure sensitive adhesive

Pressure sensitive adhesive is adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to marry the adhesive with the adherend...

 coated onto a backing material such as paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

, plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

 film, cloth, or metal foil. It is sticky (tacky) without any heat or solvent for activation and adheres with light pressure.