subtitle

Etymology

It is formed from English sub- + title.^[2][3][4][5] The Shorter Oxford takes the prefix in the sense "under" for the film caption and in the sense "secondary" for the other senses.^[6] Compare French sous-titre, recorded from 1837.^[2] The base noun comes from title, from Old French title and Old English titul, both from Latin titulus (“inscription, label, heading”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A heading given to a subsection of a larger work: 1814, in Dibdin's Bibliotheca Spenceriana.^[2] The sense of a secondary title of a book follows in 1815,^[2][5] which Barnhart and Etymonline date to 1825.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged at first to books: a subheading, a secondary or explanatory title, and in printing a half-title (1883).^[2] It was then used of a caption under a picture (1907),^[2] and in the silent cinema of the text shown between scenes, now called an intertitle (1909).^[2][3] Etymonline finds it applied to the cinema by 1908.^[4] With sound films it came to mean a caption across the bottom of the screen, usually translating the dialogue (1931).^[2] The verb, to give a subtitle to, dates from 1830,^[2][5] and in the sense of providing a film with subtitles from 1950.^[2]

Timeline

• 1814 – a heading of a subsection of a work.^[2]
• 1815 – a secondary or explanatory title of a book.^[2][5] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1825.^[3][4]
• 1830 – verb, to give a subtitle to.^[2][5]
• 1883 – in printing, a half-title.^[2]
• 1907 – a caption under a picture.^[2]
• 1909 – a text shown between scenes of a silent film.^[2][3]
• 1931 – a translation or transcript shown at the bottom of the screen.^[2]
• 1950 – verb, to provide a film with subtitles.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A secondary title of a book or other work, often explaining the main one.^[7][5][2]
2. A caption at the bottom of a film or television screen that translates or transcribes the dialogue: We watched the Korean drama with English subtitles.^[7][5][2]
3. In silent films, a text shown on the screen between scenes; an intertitle.^[7][2]
4. A title of a subsection of a larger work, such as a law.^[2][5]

Verb

1. To give a subtitle to a book or work.^[7][5][2]
2. To provide a film or programme with subtitles.^[2][7]

Related words

• title
• surtitle
• subheading

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins