# Centering table caption between two columns

I want to center a table caption between the 5th and 6th columns, like this:

in this way:

% for table captions on top
\usepackage[tableposition=top]{caption}
% space out columns
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{14pt}
% remove default caption numbering
\usepackage{caption}

\begin{table}[th!]
\centering
\caption*{$x_{2}$}
\begin{tabular}{l c | c c c c c}
&   & 0   & 1    & 2    & 3    \\
\hline
& 0 & .08 & .07 & .04 & .00 \\
& 1 & .06 & .15 & .05 & .04 \\
$x_{1}$ & 2 & .05 & .04 & .10 & .06 \\
& 3 & .00 & .03 & .04 & .07 \\
& 4 & .00 & .01 & .05 & .06
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


where the h! is just for forcing the table's position in the document.

I've looked into threeparttable, but I didn't see anything in the (fairly brief) documentation that seemed like it would help.

Is there an easy way to do this?

• You shouldn't be using the caption for labelling your columns. I would suggest you add an extra row with this code \ & \ & \ & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$x_2$} & \ & \\ above your data. It worked when I tried it in your code. \multicolumn{}{}{} merges columns in your table, 2 in this case. I hope this helps. – nikjohn Apr 10 '17 at 23:46

Per @nikjohn's comment:

You shouldn't be using the caption for labelling your columns. I would suggest you add an extra row with this code \ & \ & \ & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$x_2$} & \ & \\ above your data. It worked when I tried it in your code. \multicolumn{}{}{} merges columns in your table, 2 in this case.

The code using this:

\begin{table}[th!]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{l c | c c c c }
\ & \ & \ & \multicolumn{2}{c}{$x_2$} & \ \\
&   & 0   & 1    & 2    & 3    \\
\hline
& 0 & .08 & .07 & .04 & .00 \\
& 1 & .06 & .15 & .05 & .04 \\
$x_{1}$ & 2 & .05 & .04 & .10 & .06 \\
& 3 & .00 & .03 & .04 & .07 \\
& 4 & .00 & .01 & .05 & .06
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


and resultant image: