Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈkæp.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English capcioun (“seizure, arrest”),[2][3] borrowed from Old French capcion (“arrest, capture, imprisonment”),[4][3][5] from Latin captiō (“a catching, seizing, holding, taking”),[4][3][6] a noun of action from captus (“taken”), the past participle of capiō (“to take, seize”),[4][3][7] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).[4][3] The OED takes the word straight from the Latin accusative captiōnem and only compares the Old French form,[6] and Etymonline allows both routes.[4] Anglo-Norman capciun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, for a capture, an arrest and a writ or warrant of arrest.[8] The Latin noun belongs with captive and captious.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Taking, catching, seizure: about 1384, in the early Wycliffite version of the Bible (2 Peter), where unreasoning beasts are said to be born in to capcioun.[6][2] Etymonline likewise dates this sense to the late 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Scots law it meant arrest by judicial process from 1609.[6] From 1670, in Blount's law dictionary, it also named the part of a legal instrument that states where, when and by what authority it was taken or executed, as in the phrase certificate of caption.[6][5][4] The Oxford Dictionary of English explains that, because this statement was usually attached to the document, the word came to mean a heading or accompanying wording.[9] Barnhart adds that the phrase was sometimes understood as "the beginning or heading of a warrant", and that the meaning was strongly influenced by Latin caput (“head”);[5] Merriam-Webster also notes the influence of caput.[10] The sense "heading of a chapter or article" is first recorded in 1789, in the writings of James Madison, and was at first chiefly American;[6][5] Weekley still called it a neologism from the United States.[11] The title placed below an illustration followed, originally in the US, and Etymonline dates it to 1919.[6][4] Bacon used the word in 1605 for a cavil or quibble, a sense taken from Latin.[6][12] Johnson (1755) knew only the legal act of taking a person by judicial process.[13] In Scots it also meant a lucky acquisition.[14] The verb, to give a caption to, is recorded from 1848 by Merriam-Webster, from 1853 by the OED and by 1901 in Etymonline.[10][6][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – taking, seizure (Wycliffite Bible).[6][2]
  • 1605 – a cavil, a quibble (Bacon).[6]
  • 1609 – law, arrest by judicial process, especially in Scotland.[6]
  • 1670 – law, the part of a document stating where, when and by what authority it was taken.[6][5]
  • 1789 – the heading of a chapter or article (James Madison).[6][5]
  • 1848 – verb, to provide with a caption (1853 in the OED).[10][6]
  • 1919 – the title or description below an illustration.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A short title, explanation or comment placed with a picture, photograph or cartoon: The caption under the photo misspelled her name.
  2. A heading or title of a chapter, article, document or page.
  3. Text shown on the screen in a film or broadcast, such as a subtitle or a transcription of the dialogue.
  4. (law) The heading of a legal document or pleading, which names the parties, the court and the case number, or states where, when and by what authority it was made.
  5. (archaic) Seizure; in Scots law, arrest.

Verb

  1. To give a caption to: The editor captioned each drawing with the artist's name.

Word family

  • captionless
  • closed-captioned
  • closed-captioning
  • miscaption
  • recaption
  • subcaption
  • supercaption

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)