caption

[kap-shuh n]

noun

a title or explanation for a picture or illustration, especially in a magazine.

a heading or title, as of a chapter, article, or page.

Movies, Television. the title of a scene, the text of a speech, etc., superimposed on the film and projected onto the screen.

Law. the heading of a legal document stating the time, place, etc., of execution or performance.

verb (used with object)

to supply a caption or captions for; entitle: to caption a photograph.

Nearby words

Origin of caption

1350–1400; Middle English capcio(u)n seizure < Latin captiōn- (stem of captiō), equivalent to capt(us) taken (see captive) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

cap·tion·less, adjectivemis·cap·tion, verb (used with object)sub·cap·tion, nounsu·per·cap·tion, noun

un·cap·tioned, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for captionless

Captions added to captionless illustrations and some illustrations were relocated to correspond to their references in the text.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, December 1899|Various

British Dictionary definitions for captionless

caption

noun

a title, brief explanation, or comment accompanying an illustration; legend

a heading, title, or headline of a chapter, article, etc

graphic material, usually containing lettering, used in television presentation

another name for subtitle (def. 2)

the formal heading of a legal document stating when, where, and on what authority it was taken or made

verb

to provide with a caption or captions

Word Origin for caption

C14 (meaning: seizure, an arrest; later, heading of a legal document): from Latin captiō a seizing, from capere to take

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for captionless

caption

by 1901, from caption (n.). Related: Captioned; captioning.

caption

late 14c., "taking, seizure," from Old French capcion "arrest, capture, imprisonment," or directly from Latin captionem (nominative capito) "a catching, seizing, holding, taking," noun of action from past participle stem of capere "to take" (see capable).

From 17c. used especially in law, and there via its appearance at the head of legal document involving seizure ("Certificate of caption", etc.), the word's sense was extended to "the beginning of any document;" thus "heading of a chapter or section of an article" (1789), and, especially in U.S., "description or title below an illustration" (1919).