caption
/ˈkæpʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈkæpʃn/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈkap-shən/ (ame, mw) · /ˈkæp.ʃən/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈkæp.ʃən/ (ame, ipa)
caption — noun
1. a few printed words placed beneath or beside a photograph, drawing, or diagram f
a few printed words placed beneath or beside a photograph, drawing, or diagram found on a page or screen, which tell the viewer who or what is in the image or what is happening.
The newspaper printed a photo of the mayor with a brief caption underneath.
collocation: 'a brief caption underneath'
Priya read the caption under the old family photograph and recognised her grandmother.
collocation: 'caption under [noun]'
Each diagram in the science textbook has a caption that explains how the experiment works.
Without the wedding photo caption, Aiko's friends would not have known the couple's names.
- description
broader term; a caption is one type of description, but description can be much longer
- label
shorter and more functional than a caption; often a single word or short phrase
- legend
can refer to an explanatory caption, but more commonly means a map key or a traditional story
文法句型
caption + of + noun phrase
under + a/the + caption
用法筆記
Often appears in the fixed phrase 'under the caption' when referring to the location of the text relative to the image. You read or look at a caption; you do not normally 'listen' to one.
常見錯誤
caption — verb
1. to add a line or two of written words under or beside a photograph, drawing, or
to add a line or two of written words under or beside a photograph, drawing, or diagram in a book, magazine, or article, so that the reader understands who or what the image shows.
The editor asked Tomás to caption the award photos before the magazine went out.
pattern: 'caption + [noun phrase]' with direct object
Wildlife photos are often captioned with the animal's name and the place of the shot.
passive: 'be captioned with [text]'
Yusuf spent the afternoon captioning old family pictures for the reunion slideshow.
The newspaper captioned the front-page image simply with the words 'Hope after the storm.'
文法句型
caption + a/the + [image noun]
be captioned + [with text]
caption + noun + as + noun phrase
用法筆記
Commonly used in the passive voice (e.g. 'The photo was captioned with…') especially in publishing contexts where the caption writer is not the subject of the sentence. The object must be an image or illustration — you cannot caption a person or an object directly.