[narcout]

I don't have any independant means of gauging caramelization, but according to Brewing Classic Styles "Caramelization is a sugar-to-sugar reaction that occurs at high temperatures and low moisture. (It does not happen during normal wort boiling.)"

According to Brewing Better Beer "Boiling the mash encourges the Maillard reaction, which creates Maillard products . . . Note that this is not the same as caramelization, a related process involving the melting and browning of sugar.  The Maillard reacton involves amino acids (which contain nitrogen, coming from malt or proteins), reducing sugars, moisture, and heat.  Sugars are corbohydrates and don't contain nitrogen."

[nateo]

The difference between "caramelization" and one Maillard pathway are basically just semantics. I would argue the defining characteristic of caramelization is the dehydration of sugar molecules. If that dehydration is catalyzed by amino acids, is that really any different, in practical terms? I don't think the sugar cares why it lost its water.

You can argue about semantics, I guess, but if language is a tool to convey descriptions of natural events, it's not incorrect to call what happens during a wort boil "caramelization."