caption

B2 Topic:Communication

US /ˈkæp.ʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #26082

Meanings

1

noun
A short piece of text printed under a picture to explain it.

The caption under the photo named everyone in the group.
2

noun
Words shown on screen that give the dialogue of a film or program, especially for people who cannot hear.

She turned on the captions so she could follow the film without sound.
3

verb
To add a short explanation or title to a picture.

The photographer captioned each image with the date and place.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short piece of text... legend

2 noun · words shown on screen that... subtitle

Word family

Forms captionedcaptioningcaptions

Derived forms captionablecaptionedcaptionercaptioningclose-captionedclosed-captionclosed-captionedclosed-captioningopen-caption

Related forms captious captivate captive capturemanippersubtitlesupertitlesurtitle

Simplified etymology

Caption dates from late Middle English, ultimately derives from Latin capere ‘take or hold’, and originally meant an act of capture.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin captiō (“deception, fraud”), from the past participle of capiō (“to take, to seize”) (English capture). Compare Middle English capcioun (“seizure, capture”).

*kap- Proto-Indo-European captiō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# caption

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈkæp.ʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 26082

## Meanings
1. A short piece of text printed under a picture to explain it.
2. Words shown on screen that give the dialogue of a film or program, especially for people who cannot hear.
3. To add a short explanation or title to a picture.

## Examples
- The caption under the photo named everyone in the group.
- She turned on the captions so she could follow the film without sound.
- The photographer captioned each image with the date and place.

## Derived Forms
- captionable
- captioned
- captioner
- captioning
- close-captioned
- closed-caption
- closed-captioned
- closed-captioning
- open-caption

## Related Forms
- captious
- captivate
- captive
- capture
- manipper
- subtitle
- supertitle
- surtitle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kap-
- Root: captiō

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin captiō (“deception, fraud”), from the past participle of capiō (“to take, to seize”) (English capture). Compare Middle English capcioun (“seizure, capture”).

## AI Etymology
Caption was borrowed from Latin captiō (“deception, fraud”), from the past participle of capiō (“to take, to seize”) (English capture). Compare Middle English capcioun (“seizure, capture”).

## Topics
- Communication

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