caption

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæp.ʃn/, SAMPA: /"k{p.Sn/

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Etymology

Recorded since c.1384, "taking, seizure," from Old French capcion or directly from Latin captio, from the past participle of capere ("to take").

Noun

caption (plural captions)

1. (typography) The descriptive heading or title of a document or part therof
2. A title or brief explanation attached to an illustration or cartoon.
3. (cinematography) A piece of text appearing on screen as subtitle or other part of a film or broadcast.
4. (law) The section on an official paper that describes when, where, what was taken, found or executed, and by whom it was authorized.
5. (obsolete, law) A seizure or capture, especially of tangible property (chattel).
   • 1919 Thomas Welburn Hughes. A treatise on criminal law and procedure. The Bobbs-Merril Co., Indianapolis, IN, USA. Sec. 557 (p. 378).

     The caption and asportation must be felonious.

Usage notes

In film and video, captions may transcribe or describe all significant dialogue and sound for viewers who cannot hear it, while subtitles translate foreign-language dialogue.

Derived terms

• captioning, captioned, captioner
• (film) closed caption, closed-caption, closed captions, closed captioned, closed-captioned, close captioned, close-captioned, closed captioning, closed-captioning
• (film) open caption, open-caption, open captions
• (film) real time caption, real-time caption, real time captioning, real-time captioning

Related terms

• caption
• captious
• captivate
• captive

Translations

descriptive title or heading of (part of) a document

Bulgarian: заглавие (bg) n., рубрика (bg) f. Czech: titulek (cs) m. Dutch: titel, hoofding, hoofd n., kop m., opschrift n. Finnish: otsikko (fi)

French: légende (fr) f. Italian: intestazione (it) f. Manx: fo-heidyl (gv) m. Spanish: prefacio (es)

title or brief explanation attached to an illustration or cartoon

Bulgarian: надпис (bg) m. Czech: popisek (cs) m. Dutch: bijschrift n., legende, onderschrift n., opschrift n. Finnish: kuvateksti German: Titel (de) m., Legende (de) f., Beschriftung (de) m., Bildunterschrift (de) f., Bildüberschrift (de) f.

Italian: didascalia (it) f., legenda (it) f., dicitura (it) f. Manx: fo-heidyl (gv) m. Polish: napis m., podpis m., nagłówek n. Portuguese: legenda (pt) f. Spanish: título (es) m., leyenda (es) f.

piece of text appearing on screen as part of a film or broadcast

Bulgarian: надписи (bg) pl. Czech: titulek (cs) m. Dutch: legende f. and m., ondertitel m. Finnish: tekstitys (fi) German: Untertitel (de) m., Filmuntertitel (de) m.

Italian: sottotitolo (it) m., didascalia (it) f. Manx: fo-heidyl (gv) m. Polish: napisy Scottish Gaelic: fo-thiotal (gd) m. Spanish: subtítulo (es) m.

section of an official paper

Dutch: certificaat, certificatie German: Rubrum (de) n.

Italian: parte iniziale (it)

capture — see capture

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: sous-titre m.

Verb

caption (third-person singular simple present captions, present participle captioning, simple past and past participle captioned)

1. To add captions to a text or illustration.

   Only once the drawing is done will the letterer caption it.

2. To add captions to a film or broadcast.

Translations

to add captions to a text or illustration

Czech: opatřit popiskem (cs) Dutch: betitelen, titelen

Spanish: intitular (es)

to add captions to a film or broadcast

Czech: opatřit titulky (cs) Dutch: ondertitelen (nl)

Portuguese: legendar (pt) Spanish: subtitular (es)

Anagrams

Pontiac