Caption
/ˈkæp.ʃən/noun
A title, heading, or brief explanatory text accompanying an image or video.
Did you know?Caption and captain are historical cousins: both ultimately descend from Latin *caput*, meaning “head,” because a caption was originally a “heading” or “head title.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kaput-
“head”
Latin
Latin
caput
“head”
Late Latin
Latin
captionem
“a heading; a title”
Old French
Old French
caption
“a heading; title”
Middle English
English
caption
“a heading, title, or inscription”
Modern English
English
caption
“a brief explanatory title or text accompanying an image or video”