quotation

American  

[kwoh-tey-shuhn] / kwoʊˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. something that is quoted; a passage quoted from a book, speech, etc..

   a speech full of quotations from Lincoln's letters.

   Synonyms:

   selection, citation, extract

2. the act or practice of quoting.

3. Commerce.

   1. the statement of the current or market price of a commodity or security.

   2. the price so stated.

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quotation British  

/ kwəʊˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. a phrase or passage from a book, poem, play, etc, remembered and spoken, esp to illustrate succinctly or support a point or an argument

2. the act or habit of quoting from books, plays, poems, etc

3. commerce a statement of the current market price of a security or commodity

4. an estimate of costs submitted by a contractor to a prospective client; tender

5. stock exchange registration granted to a company or governmental body, enabling the shares and other securities of the company or body to be officially listed and traded

6. printing a large block of type metal that is less than type-high and is used to fill up spaces in type pages

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Other Word Forms

• prequotation noun
• self-quotation noun

Etymology

Origin of quotation

1525–35; 1810–15 quotation for def. 3; < Medieval Latin quotātiōn- (stem of quotātiō ), equivalent to quotāt ( us ) (past participle of quotāre; quote ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

At least one copy included peculiar quotation marks in the opening paragraphs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Others speculated that, due to Fennell’s penchant for audience provocation, the quotation marks were an Easter egg indicating that her take on Brontë’s novel would be far from your great-great-grandmother’s “Wuthering Heights.”

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2026

“All of a sudden, I was given a press release with a quotation by myself written in it, and asked to just agree to it,” Pazdur said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Technically, this is not “Wuthering Heights,” but “Wuthering Heights” in the self-referential quotation marks on the poster, an acknowledgment that Fennell has plunged her fingers into the plot and manipulated it to her whims.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

The origin of the name is an enigmatic quotation from James Joyce: “Three quarks for Muster Mark!”

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Related Words

• excerpt
• passage
• quote
• reference