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Synonyms

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.

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The concept of being picky was born, though it was still so new a word that food marketers put it in quotation marks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

How very fitting that the habitually plugged-in crowd tried to make sense of those quotation marks surrounding Fennell’s title.

From Salon • 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

I didn’t put that in quotation marks because Chomsky apparently never said it.

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2025

Dr. Trefusis draws the quotation from Catullus, Poems, XXXVI. — ed.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.