caption
Americannoun
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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)
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:
Roberts announced the news via Instagram with a photo of the two beaming near a river and a caption that read, “putting this here before my mom tells everyone.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Motherwell were fined £5,000 for releasing a video with the caption: "As the world of football mocks our game, we simply have to draw a line in the sand and shift the focus."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Your nervous system isn’t asking for perfection,” the caption read.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He shared a photo of his stuffed souvenir on social media with the caption, “It followed me home.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
I looked up Lindbergh in the encyclopedia, and sure enough, the answer was right in the caption of the photo.
From "Doing Time Online" by Jan Siebold
Some videos make it onto Brovdi's social media accounts -- where he is followed by hundreds of thousands -- with cartoony music and mocking captions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Lines of dialogue are followed by explanatory glosses, like the captions beneath photographs, so that they cannot be misinterpreted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Sports reporting could be generated from box scores, financial reporting from ticker data and movie reviews from captions.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
Simple adjustments, like written summaries after meetings and captions on video calls, could make a big difference, he says.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
He slammed the magazine down and glared at it as I said of course I knew he was the youngest, and the magazine did the captions, not me.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
“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
She captioned the clip, “Do I want to RV? Yes, yes I do. I’ll bring the string lights and tea!!”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Swift and Kelce announced their engagement last August in an Instagram post captioned, "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married."
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Gutierrez captioned his Instagram: “Whoever did this I thought it was really funny!”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
On Facebook, he posted a picture Ifemelu had taken of him standing on the verandah with Ranyinudo’s cousins, and he captioned it: No lions yet to eat me, folks.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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
While the initial live broadcast will use SDR quality with live captioning, a higher quality picture plus sweetened sounds and subtitles will be delivered when the on-demand version hits Netflix for rewatching.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
Two weeks ago, Delaney published a tight close-up photo of herself and Morgan with their faces nearly touching, captioning it “Pure love” with a red heart emoji and the hashtags #lucky and #grateful.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
This may be an effort to mitigate the audience’s urge to divide attention between second screens or to capitalize on the mainstreaming of closed captioning in streaming content.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
