caption
Americannoun
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captions
plural
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a title or explanation for a picture or illustration, as in a magazine, newspaper, or book.
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a heading or title, as of a chapter, article, or page.
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Movies, Television, Digital Technology.
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a transcription or translation of dialogue and a written description of other audio elements, as sound effects, music, or atmospheric sounds, displayed as a graphic overlay on the lower part of the screen in a television program, film, video, or video game.
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a title or annotation displayed as a graphic overlay on the screen in a television program, film, video, or video game, as to set the scene, name a location, or specify a time or date.
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Law. the heading of a legal document stating the time, place, etc., of execution or performance.
verb (used with object)
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captions,
present (3rd person singular)
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captioned,
past participle, past
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captioning
present participle
noun
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a title, brief explanation, or comment accompanying an illustration; legend
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a heading, title, or headline of a chapter, article, etc
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graphic material, usually containing lettering, used in television presentation
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another name for subtitle
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the formal heading of a legal document stating when, where, and on what authority it was taken or made
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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subcaptionnoun
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supercaptionnoun
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miscaptionverb (used with object)
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captionlessadjective
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uncaptionedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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captionsimple
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captionssimple
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have captionedperfect
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has captionedperfect
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am captioningprogressive
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are captioningprogressive
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is captioningprogressive
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have been captioningperfect progressive
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has been captioningperfect progressive
Past
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captionedsimple
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had captionedperfect
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was captioningprogressive
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were captioningprogressive
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had been captioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of caption
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English capcio(u)n “seizure,” from Latin captiōn- (stem of captiō ), equivalent to capt(us) “taken” ( see captive) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A caption is a brief description accompanying an illustration. You know the online photo of your baby cousin face-planting into a cake? The description underneath it that says "Hugh's First Birthday" — that's the caption. The Latin root of caption is capito, which means "seizing" or "holding." What do captions have to do with seizing? Nothing. Centuries ago, when authorities seized someone's property for legal reasons, they presented documents that began with the phrase "certificate of caption." Eventually people began using the word to refer to the beginning of any document. Then they began using it to mean any article or chapter heading. And from chapter headings it was a short hop to picture headings. A long journey for a word whose definition includes the description "brief"!
Vocabulary lists containing caption
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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STAAR Grade 7 Reading: Informational Text
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Our bundle of joy has been with us for some time now, but thank you for all the well wishes,” he wrote in the caption accompanying a slideshow of photos of his family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
“You losing a debate, so you gotta hit the Cliffe Knechtle stances,” the caption on one video reads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
"Don't wait until everybody is scrambling. Prepare before you need it," says the caption of a Facebook video viewed more than 161,000 times under the hashtags #Russia and #plague.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Camprubi posted a picture of a broken bike on Instagram Stories, with a caption that read: "Sad that you have to risk your life to race, one month after a tragic accident."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The caption says, “The closest thing to a superhero in the supernatural world. Join Agent Beauregarde Magnus at the Department of Supernatural Investigations and start your journey toward becoming a Special Agent today!”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
The central frieze’s action is explicated by Latin captions and framed by upper and lower borders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
The combination of text and image recurs throughout Lynch’s paintings as well, where captions often make distressing narratives explicit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
And, yes, lengthy, instructive captions and special hashtags still help boost posts.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Others came up with captions including "Don't Look Up," a reference to the 2021 film starring Leonardo Di Caprio parodying societal apathy to the climate crisis.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
If you had to speak English with running captions in your mind showing all the roots, all the way back to Indo-European, you’d fall off the bicycle.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The post, archived by the Santa Barbara Independent, was captioned “meet the gc,” or group chat, and included a caption with several ninja emojis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
On Wednesday, Crowley posted a chummy-looking photo of a breakfast meeting that included Hong and was captioned “Wisconsin Democrats are united.”
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
“The movement has begun,” Greene captioned the picture.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Every single day you are pushed to your absolute physical and mental limits to master the profession of arms,” he said in a video, captioned “The High-T Department of War,” announcing the initiative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The Post-Intelligencer ran it under a picture of Joe captioned “Joe Rantz, The Eating Champion.”
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Lily Tomlin, Parton's co-star in the 1980 film "9 to 5" posted a black and white picture of the two of them decades earlier, captioning it simply: "No words".
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
The book’s captioning about the white organdy costume Graham designed for herself, currently displayed in the library, notes that its inspiration was the “night-blooming Cereus” flower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
“Such information must be provided not only through captioning but also in American Sign Language.”
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2025
In an Instagram post on Boxing Day, The Vivienne put up a series of photos, captioning it: "24' highlights."
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2025
I wait until my parents are in the den watching Saturday morning news—which is totally boring and has the worst closed captioning, by the way—and I snatch one of the bowls in a big hurry.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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