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
captioned; captioning
ˈkap-sh(ə-)niŋ 
; captions
; captions
: to furnish with a caption
… confirm that photographs are correctly captioned and pages numbered sequentially.—
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly… the captions and pictures are frequently out of sync, and the live local weather and sports segments are usually not captioned.—Melvia M. and Ronald E. Nomeland
Melvia M. and Ronald E. NomelandSynonyms
Examples of caption in a Sentence
Noun
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 on the WebEsme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
Please share your full name and pronouns for credit and caption info.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
A week before her birthday, Shaun Cassidy wrote a heartfelt caption about his mom paired with a throwback photo.
—Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
This opera is sung in Italian with English captions.
—The Courier-Journal, 3 Apr. 2024
Her mother posted a 10-minute video to TikTok in March with the caption #honoringmercedesvega.
—The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
Others took umbrage at an ancient Egyptian art work depicting manual labor, which bore a caption describing how the pharaoh’s workers periodically staged strikes.
—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
The caption was accompanied by a video of Cannon, Zillion, De La Rosa, and loved ones enjoying an Easter egg hunt outside.
—Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 3 Apr. 2024
With issues like the 2020 US presidential election, for example, social media companies found an answer that pleased no one: leaving most false claims about the election online but adding captions that labeled posts as misinformation.
—Maxwell Zeff and Thomas Germain / Gizmodo, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
Krakow captioned the photo with a simple anatomically correct heart emoji.
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
Richie Grainge, 25, captioned a photo as the opening title screen flashed for the movie.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024
Bündchen captioned an Instagram post from the shoot, tagging all the artists and stylists.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2024
De Laurentiis captioned her Instagram post, while also sharing an extended version on her YouTube Giadzy’s channel.
—Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 30 Mar. 2024
Snell, however, appeared to offer his own confirmation with a photo posted to his personal Instagram of him edited into the Giants’ home uniform, captioned with two orange and black heart emojis.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
The Charles in Charge alum captioned the post with a quote from author Madeleine Eames.
—Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
Noem captioned the video clip on X, formerly Twitter.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2024
Noun
On Sunday, April 7, the Poosh founder, 44, posted photos of herself swimming in the ocean while on vacation with her family in Turks and Caicos — and hilariously revived an old joke from Keeping Up with the Kardashians in the caption.
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
Please share your full name and pronouns for credit and caption info.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
A week before her birthday, Shaun Cassidy wrote a heartfelt caption about his mom paired with a throwback photo.
—Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
This opera is sung in Italian with English captions.
—The Courier-Journal, 3 Apr. 2024
Her mother posted a 10-minute video to TikTok in March with the caption #honoringmercedesvega.
—The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
Others took umbrage at an ancient Egyptian art work depicting manual labor, which bore a caption describing how the pharaoh’s workers periodically staged strikes.
—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
The caption was accompanied by a video of Cannon, Zillion, De La Rosa, and loved ones enjoying an Easter egg hunt outside.
—Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 3 Apr. 2024
With issues like the 2020 US presidential election, for example, social media companies found an answer that pleased no one: leaving most false claims about the election online but adding captions that labeled posts as misinformation.
—Maxwell Zeff and Thomas Germain / Gizmodo, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
Verb
Trump is not personally suing the judge, but the case is captioned Trump v Merchan.
—Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
Krakow captioned the photo with a simple anatomically correct heart emoji.
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
Richie Grainge, 25, captioned a photo as the opening title screen flashed for the movie.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024
Bündchen captioned an Instagram post from the shoot, tagging all the artists and stylists.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2024
De Laurentiis captioned her Instagram post, while also sharing an extended version on her YouTube Giadzy’s channel.
—Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 30 Mar. 2024
Snell, however, appeared to offer his own confirmation with a photo posted to his personal Instagram of him edited into the Giants’ home uniform, captioned with two orange and black heart emojis.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
The Charles in Charge alum captioned the post with a quote from author Madeleine Eames.
—Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
Noem captioned the video clip on X, formerly Twitter.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'caption.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near caption
Cite this Entry
“Caption.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caption. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
caption
noun
cap·tion
ˈkap-shən
: 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
Etymology
Noun
Medieval Latin captio act of taking, from Latin capere to take
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