the.com/caption
The unsung hero standing under the photo, explaining the joke nobody asked about.
means A line or block of text accompanying an image, table, or video that explains, labels, or comments on it.
from From Latin 'captio,' meaning a seizing or catching, from 'capere,' to take or seize — the same root that grabs us in 'capture,' 'captive,' and 'capable.' Originally a caption was the 'taking' part of a legal document — the heading stating where and by what authority it was seized or certified. Over time the word drifted from that authoritative top-of-the-page heading down to its modern home beneath the picture, swapping legal seizure for explanatory service.
- legal mandate
- Closed captioning is legally required on US broadcast TV
- silent origin
- Born to give voice to silent films via intertitles
- latin root
- From capere, to seize, like grabbing the gist
- sound for all
- Most caption viewers can actually hear just fine
- newspaper staple
- A misplaced one can libel the wrong face
mona lisa smile — da vinci's painting in the louvre, 1503-1519, most analyzed facial expression in art history
getty images — founded 1995, world's largest stock photography company with 80+ million licensed images
national geographic photo — magazine founded 1888, captions accompany over 15,000 published photographs of global expeditions
instagram post — platform founded 2010, 95 million posts daily with captions, revolutionized photo-sharing culture