caption
/ˈkæp.ʃən/noun, verb
caption is spelled C-A-P-T-I-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, caption means “The descriptive heading or title, of a document or part thereof” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of caption is captions.
How many letters and syllables are in caption?
| Letters | 7: C-A-P-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is caption?
Caption appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce caption?
- /ˈkæp.ʃən/
Caption has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-caption.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of caption
- captions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- captioning participle, present
- captioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does caption mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The descriptive heading or title, of a document or part thereof.
- 2
A title or brief explanation attached to an illustration, cartoon, user interface element, etc.
- 3
A piece of text appearing on screen as a subtitle or other part of a film or broadcast, describing dialogue (and sometimes other sound) for viewers who cannot hear.
(theater, performance production) By analogy, text in a similar system used in a performance venue for transcription of a live event.
- 4
The section on an official paper (for example, as part of a seizure or capture) that describes when, where, and what was taken, found or executed, and who authorized the act.
- 5
obsoleteA seizure or capture, especially of tangible property (chattel).
- 6
A story that is embedded in a pre-existing image (sometimes with image manipulation)
verb
- 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Caption in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | légende , sous-titre, sous-titrage pour sourds et malentendants , légender , sous-titrer |
| German | Überschrift, Kopf, Einleitungsformel, Titel, Zwischenüberschrift , betiteln |
| Portuguese | cabeçalho , legendar , legenda |
| Spanish | prefacio , subtítulo descriptivo , título, leyenda, capción, intitulación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does caption come from?
Borrowed from Latin captiō (“deception, fraud”), from the past participle of capiō (“to take, to seize”) (English capture). Compare Middle English capcioun (“seizure, capture”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).