closed caption

noun

Text which can be displayed on a television or other video screen with suitable equipment, usually a transcription or description of audio material.

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Meanings

nounclosed caption (plural closed captions)

plural closed captions

  1. broadcastingText which can be displayed on a television or other video screen with suitable equipment, usually a transcription or description of audio material.

    Synonyms: CC

Synonyms & antonyms

nounText which can be displayed on a television or other video screen with suitable equipment, usually a transcription or description of audio material.

Similar
CC

Origin

"Closed" originally indicated that such captions were by default not visible until activated (opened) by the viewer turning them on, in contrast to open captions which are embedded in the video itself, visible to all.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 隱藏字幕 /隐藏字幕
  • 隱藏字幕 /隐藏字幕 (yǐncáng zìmù)text displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Finnish tekstitys, tekstitykset
  • tekstitystext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • tekstityksettext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
German geschlossener Untertitel, optional zuschaltbarer Untertitel
  • geschlossener Untertiteltext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • optional zuschaltbarer Untertiteltext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Hungarian választható/bekapcsolható felirat
  • választható/bekapcsolható felirattext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Japanese クローズドキャプション
  • クローズドキャプション (kurōzudokyappushon)text displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Portuguese legenda oculta, legenda codificada
  • legenda ocultatext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • legenda codificadatext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • legendagem de áudiotext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • legenda fechadatext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • legenda de áudiotext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Russian скрытые субтитры
  • скрытые субтитры (skrytyje subtitry)text displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Spanish subtítulos, subtítulos descriptivos
  • subtítulostext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • subtítulos descriptivostext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • subtítulos para sordostext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
  • subtítulos opcionalestext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Swedish undertexter
  • undertextertext displayed on a screen with suitable equipment
Cite this entry
APA

closed caption. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closed%20caption

MLA

“closed caption.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closed%20caption. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “closed caption,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closed%20caption.

Source: closed caption on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.