caption

noun cap·tion \ ˈkap-shən \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: caption in a Sentence

Definition of caption

1 : the part of a legal document that shows where, when, and by what authority it was taken, found, or executed

2 a : the heading especially of an article or document : title

b : the explanatory comment or designation accompanying a pictorial illustration

read the caption for the names of the people in the picture

c : a movie or television show subtitle

—

captionless

play \-ləs\ adjective

See caption defined for English-language learners

See caption defined for kids

Examples of caption in a Sentence

The caption on the picture says “This year's contest winners.”
for the school yearbook, funny captions were written for snapshots showing a typical day at school

Recent Examples of caption from the Web

GalaPro works during every performance, because the captions and translations are prepare ahead of time, and then activated by speech-recognition technology to keep the performance and text or audio description in sync.

— azcentral, "GalaPro app’s accessibility, translation services come to ASU Gammage, Tony Awards," 9 June 2018
Correction: June 9, 2018 An earlier version of a photo caption with this article misstated Senator Susan Collins’s votes on efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

— abby goodnough, New York Times, "Trump’s New Plan to Dismantle Obamacare Comes With Political Risks," 8 June 2018
Even lolcats, even cute pictures of kittens made even cuter with the addition of cute captions, hold out an invitation to participation.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "When Did TV Watching Peak?," 30 May 2018
Cartoon caption contest: The Lions, Frank Ragnow and the NFL draft Golden Tate added 92 catches for 1,003 yards, his fourth straight season with at least 90 receptions.

— dave birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Don't laugh, Detroit Lions might have deepest WR group in NFL," 3 May 2018
Melania Trump is identified in one caption as Trump's girlfriend.

— darcy costello, The Courier-Journal, "Long before he was president, Donald Trump went to the Derby with his girlfriend Melania," 23 Apr. 2018
Along with identifying the wedding guests, the live-stream service will also show facts about them, Sky News said, using captions and on-screen graphics through the company's app.

— hamza shaban, courant.com, "Royal Wedding Tech: Facial Recognition System Will ID Celebrity Guests," 19 May 2018
Its original caption: The prostitution and bribery conspiracy trial of Capt.

— kansascity, "Bribery and prostitution charges in Kansas City, Kan. | The Kansas City Star," 15 May 2018
Google also highlighted its new closed-captioning AI feature that isolates individual voices to produce more accurate and understandable closed-captions, particularly in situations that feature more than one person talking at the same time.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Gmail’s new “smart compose” feature will help you write emails faster," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'caption.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of caption

probably short for certificate of caption (taking, seizure)

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1670

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

caption Synonyms

Synonyms

head, header, heading, headline, rubric, title;

Related Words

banner, streamer;

catch word, guide word, running head;

greeting, salutation;

superscript, superscription;

subhead, subheading, subtitle;

Other Publishing Terms

annotate, dreadful, emend, expurgate, factoid, jump, lobster shift, redaction, referee

caption

verb

Definition of caption

captioned; captioning play \-sh(ə-)niŋ\

transitive verb

: to furnish with a caption

Almost all live TV sports events are captioned for the hearing-impaired.

Recent Examples of caption from the Web

But on Instagram, even that which is purportedly honest has often been thoughtfully selected, filtered, and captioned.

— lindsey lanquist, SELF, "Do Yourself a Favor and Follow My Best Friend’s Mom on Instagram," 25 May 2018
The internet had a field day captioning the viral photo of him with hot takes.

— ashley hoffman, Time, "Suits' Rick Hoffman's Facial Expression Was a Royal Wedding Highlight," 19 May 2018
Google also highlighted its new closed-captioning AI feature that isolates individual voices to produce more accurate and understandable closed-captions, particularly in situations that feature more than one person talking at the same time.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Gmail’s new “smart compose” feature will help you write emails faster," 8 May 2018
Pichai also explained how Google used AI to create more accurate closed captioning for the hearing impaired, even if two people on screen are shouting over one another.

— jonathan vanian, Fortune, "4 Big Takeaways From Google's I/O Developer Conference Today," 8 May 2018
Each picture is captioned #MerciArsene with a short description of the image's relevance to Wenger's trophy-laden regime.

— SI.com, "Arsenal Legend's Bitter Comment on Arsene Wenger Photo Provokes Social Media Backlash," 10 May 2018
Another unusual feature of her production is a captioning board, visible at the back of the stage, for the hearing-impaired.

— dwight garner, New York Times, "Prepare to Be Provoked. Caryl Churchill Is Back.," 25 Apr. 2018
Yup, mama slayed in a simple black strapless onesie from celeb favorite Fashion Nova and captioned the thirst trap with Cardi B lyrics, because duh.

— kelsey stiegman, Seventeen, "Kylie Jenner Wore a $18 Romper to Coachella and Looked Smokin' Hot," 16 Apr. 2018
May, who runs the Instagram account @miss_itty_britty, captioning a side-by-side image of her transformation.

— blake bakkila, Health.com, "This Woman Shared a Before-and-After of Her 326-Pound Weight Loss to Spread an Important Message About Her Loose Skin," 11 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of caption

see ¹caption

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1848

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

CAPTION Defined for English Language Learners

caption

noun

Definition of caption for English Language Learners

: a sentence or group of words that is written on or next to a picture to explain what is being shown

CAPTION Defined for Kids

caption

noun cap·tion \ ˈkap-shən \

Definition of caption for Students

: a comment or title that goes with a picture

Law Dictionary

caption

noun cap·tion \ ˈkap-shən \

legal Definition of caption

: the part of a legal document that states the court, the names of the parties, the docket number, the title of the document, and sometimes the name of the judge