quotation

[kwoh-tey-shuhn]

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• prequotation noun
• self-quotation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of quotation¹

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

This self-serving quotation has the ring of a memory fashioned in retrospect.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Paraphrasing is a useful timesaver, as it is not always convenient to stop and look up a quotation when making a point, especially if the situation is urgent, as this one surely was.

Read more on Literature

There is also a fond quotation of a famous scene from its first sequel, “Aliens.”

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He became more overt about his faith, praying in public and weaving Bible quotations into speeches.

Read more on Salon

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

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• excerpt 
• passage 
• quote 
• reference