Etymologically
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subtitle

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsʌbtaɪtəl/[1]

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]

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