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URL: https://www.etymonline.com/word/caption

⇱ Caption - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

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Origin and history of caption

caption(n.)

late 14c., "a taking, seizure," from Old French capcion "arrest, capture, imprisonment," or directly from Latin captionem (nominative capito) "a catching, seizing, holding, taking," noun of action from past-participle stem of capere "to take" (from PIE root *kap- "to grasp").

It was used from mid-17c. in the wording at the head of legal documents involving seizure, deposition, etc. ("Certificate of caption"). Thus the sense was extended to "the beginning of any document," and further to "heading of a chapter or section of an article" (1789), and, especially in U.S., "description or title below an illustration" (1919).

also from late 14c.

caption(v.)

"write a caption for, affix a caption on or to," by 1901, from caption (n.). Related: Captioned; captioning.

Entries linking to caption

1768, "act of taking, reprisal," especially "peaceful extra-legal seizure of one's own property wrongfully taken or withheld;" see re- "back, again" + caption (n.).

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grasp."

It might form all or part of: accept; anticipate; anticipation; behave; behoof; behoove; cable; cacciatore; caitiff; capable; capacious; capacity; capias; capiche; capstan; caption; captious; captivate; captive; captor; capture; case (n.2) "receptacle;" catch; catchpoll; cater; chase (n.1) "a hunt;" chase (v.) "to run after, hunt;" chasse; chasseur; conceive; cop (v.) "to seize, catch;" copper (n.2) "policeman;" deceive; emancipate; except; forceps; gaffe; haft; have; hawk (n.); heave; heavy; heft; incapacity; inception; incipient; intercept; intussusception; manciple; municipal; occupy; participation; perceive; precept; prince; purchase; receive; recipe; recover; recuperate; sashay; susceptible.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit kapati "two handfuls;" Greek kaptein "to swallow, gulp down," kope "oar, handle;" Latin capax "able to hold much, broad," capistrum "halter," capere "to grasp, lay hold; be large enough for; comprehend;" Lettish kampiu "seize;" Old Irish cacht "servant-girl," literally "captive;" Welsh caeth "captive, slave;" Gothic haban "have, hold;" Old English hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold."

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early 14c., "narrative dealing with a happening or an event," from Old French legende (12c., Modern French légende) and directly from Medieval Latin legenda "legend, story," especially lives of saints, which were formerly read at matins and in refectories of religious houses, lit

late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo

mid-14c., "removal of a saint's body or relics to a new place," also "rendering of a text from one language to another," from Old French translacion "translation" of text, also of the bones of a saint, etc. (12c.) or directly from Latin translationem (nominative translatio) "a ca

1580s, "a translation, that which is rendered from another language," from French version, from Medieval Latin versionem (nominative versio) "a turning, a translation," from past-participle stem of Latin vertere "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be ch

mid-15c., "fit out, equip, to provision" (a castle, ship, person); "provide (soldiers)," from Old French furniss-/forniss-, present participle stem of furnir/fornir "accomplish, carry out; equip, fit out; provide" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fornire, alteration of *fromire, from W

early 15c., providen, "make provision for the future; arrange, plan; take care, relieve of needs, supply the needs of," from Latin providere "look ahead, prepare, supply, act with foresight," from pro "ahead" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward") + videre "to see" (from PIE root *w

late 14c., supplien, "fill (something) up, complete; make up for, compensate for," from Old French soupplier "fill up, make full" (Modern French suppléer) and directly from Latin supplere "fill up, make full, complete," from assimilated form of sub "up from below" (see sub-) + pl

c. 1400, "a shining;" early 15c., "a manifestation;" mid-15c., "a spiritual illumination," from Old French illustration "apparition, appearance" (13c.) and directly from Latin illustrationem (nominative illustratio) "vivid representation" (in writing), literally "an enlightening,

Old English filmen "membrane, thin skin, foreskin," from West Germanic *filminjan (source also of Old Frisian filmene "skin," Old English fell "hide"), extended from Proto-Germanic *fello(m) "animal hide," from PIE root *pel- (3) "skin, hide." Sense of "a thin coat of something"

late 14c., excepcioun, "the act or fact of leaving out or the excluding of" from the scope of some rule or condition, from Anglo-French excepcioun (late 13c. in a legal sense, "formal objection or protest entered by a defendant"), Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptionem (nom

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