1
: the part of a legal document that shows where, when, and by what authority it was taken, found, or executed
2
a
: the heading especially of an article or document : title
b
: the explanatory comment or designation accompanying a pictorial illustration
read the caption for the names of the people in the picture
c
: a movie or television show subtitle
captioned; captioning
ˈkap-sh(ə-)niŋ 
; captions
; captions
: to furnish with a caption
… confirm that photographs are correctly captioned and pages numbered sequentially.—
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly… the captions and pictures are frequently out of sync, and the live local weather and sports segments are usually not captioned.—Melvia M. and Ronald E. Nomeland
Melvia M. and Ronald E. NomelandExamples of caption in a Sentence
Noun
The caption on the picture says “This year's contest winners.”
for the school yearbook, funny captions were written for snapshots showing a typical day at school
Recent Examples on the Web
Adam England, People.com, 13 Sep. 2025
All this goes to show that meaningful intention is not just a key part of the new captions themselves but also what meeds to be an ongoing drive to cement their status as a critical component in the future of accessible film.
—Gus Alexiou, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
The woman added bikini shots of the woman, captioning it.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for caption
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Noun
After Alvarez received the second defeat of his professional career (to Dmitry Vibol) in May 2022, Gómez posted a picture of her husband on Instagram, calling him her world champ in the caption and expressing her pride.
—Adam England, People.com, 13 Sep. 2025
All this goes to show that meaningful intention is not just a key part of the new captions themselves but also what meeds to be an ongoing drive to cement their status as a critical component in the future of accessible film.
—Gus Alexiou, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
Bell captioned the post, which featured photos of the two women learning the news.
—Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
The woman added bikini shots of the woman, captioning it.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 9 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for caption
Cite this Entry
“Caption.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caption. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
caption
noun
cap·tion
ˈkap-shən
: the part of a legal document that states the court, the names of the parties, the docket number, the title of the document, and sometimes the name of the judge
Etymology
Noun
Medieval Latin captio act of taking, from Latin capere to take
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