Caption
/ˈkæpʃən/
Definitions
2 meaningsA title or brief explanation accompanying an illustration or image.
/ˈkæpʃən/
A brief description accompanying an image or video.
The caption under the photograph described the scene perfectly.
💡 Simply: Words under a picture that tell you about it.
More Examples
She carefully crafted a witty caption for her Instagram post.
How It's Used
"The photo of the sunset had a heartwarming caption."
"The news article included captions for each image."
To write a caption or title for (an image, illustration, etc.).
/kæpˈʃən/
To provide a caption for something.
I need to caption these photos before posting them online.
💡 Simply: To add words to explain a picture.
More Examples
He carefully captioned each image in the album.
How It's Used
"She captioned the photo with a quote from her favorite book."
From Middle French *capcion*, from Latin *captio*, from *capere* "to take, seize". Originally referring to the act of seizing or arresting, it evolved to encompass the act of heading or titling.
While the word's origin points to a legal context ('seizing'), its modern usage is overwhelmingly related to visual media.
Memory tip
Think 'cap' as in 'topping' an image with words.