caption

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) Attested c.1384, in sense “taking, seizure”, borrowed from Old French capcion or directly from Latin captiō, from the past participle of capiō (“I take, I seize”) (English capture).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.ʃən/

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, cartoon, user interface element, etc.
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

• captionable, captioned, captioner, captioning
• (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

• captious
• captivate
• captive
• capture

Translations

descriptive title or heading of (part of) a document

• Bulgarian: заглавие (bg) n (zaglavie), рубрика (bg) f (rubrika)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 標題／标题 (zh) (biāotí), 标题 (zh) (biāotí)

• Czech: titulek m
• Dutch: titel (nl), hoofding (nl), hoofd (nl) n, kop (nl) m, opschrift (nl) n
• Finnish: otsikko (fi)
• French: légende (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: intestazione (it) f
• Macedonian: заглавие n (zaglavie), натпис m (natpis), опис m (opis)
• Manx: fo-heidyl m
• Portuguese: cabeçalho (pt) m
• Russian: заголо́вок (ru) m (zagolóvok), загла́вие (ru) n (zaglávije), ру́брика (ru) f (rúbrika)
• Spanish: prefacio (es)
• Welsh: pennawd m

title or brief explanation attached to an illustration or cartoon

• Bulgarian: надпис (bg) m (nadpis)
• Czech: popisek m
• Dutch: bijschrift (nl) n, legende (nl), onderschrift (nl) n, opschrift (nl) n
• Finnish: kuvateksti (fi)
• French: légende (fr) m
• German: Titel (de) m, Legende (de) f, Beschriftung (de) m, Bildunterschrift (de) f, Bildüberschrift f
• Irish: ceannscríbhinn (above image), foscríbhinn f (below image)
• Italian: didascalia (it) f, legenda (it) f, dicitura (it) f
• Japanese: キャプション (ja) (kyapushon)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 표제 (pyoje)
• Macedonian: натпис m (natpis), опис m (opis)
• Manx: fo-heidyl m
• Maori: tapanga
• Polish: podpis (pl) m
• Portuguese: legenda (pt) f
• Russian: на́дпись (ru) f (nádpisʹ), по́дпись (ru) f (pódpisʹ)
• Spanish: título (es) m, leyenda (es) f

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

• Bulgarian: надписи (bg) pl (nadpisi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 字幕 (zh) (zìmù)

• Czech: titulek m
• Dutch: legende (nl) f or m, ondertitel (nl) m
• Finnish: tekstitys (fi)
• French: sous-titre (fr) m
• German: Untertitel (de) m, Filmuntertitel m
• Hungarian: felirat (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: takarir (id)
• Italian: sottotitolo (it) m, didascalia (it) f
• Macedonian: титл m (titl)
• Manx: fo-heidyl m
• Polish: napisy (pl) m pl
• Portuguese: legenda (pt) f
• Russian: заста́вка (ru) f (zastávka), на́дпись (ru) f (nádpisʹ) (на экране)
• Scottish Gaelic: fo-thiotal m
• Spanish: subtítulo (es) m

section of an official paper

• Dutch: certificaat (nl), certificatie (nl)
• German: Rubrum (de) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: parte iniziale
• Russian: сопроводи́тельная бума́га f (soprovodítelʹnaja bumága)

capture — see capture

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
• Dutch: betitelen (nl), titelen (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: légender (fr)
• Spanish: intitular (es)

to add captions to a film or broadcast

• Czech: opatřit titulky
• Dutch: ondertitelen (nl)
• French: sous-titrer (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: титлува (titluva)
• Portuguese: legendar
• Spanish: subtitular (es)

Anagrams

• Pontiac, anticop, paction