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definitions

quote

[kwoht]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quote ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), quot·ed, quot·ing.

verb (used without object), quot·ed, quot·ing.

to make a quotation or quotations, as from a book or author.
(used by a speaker to indicate the beginning of a quotation.)

noun

a quotation.
quotation mark.

Idioms

    quote unquote, so called; so to speak; as it were: If you're a liberal, quote unquote, they're suspicious of you.

Origin of quote

1350–1400; 1880–85 for def 9; Middle English coten, quoten (< Old French coter) < Medieval Latin quotāre to divide into chapters and verses, derivative of Latin quot how many
Related formsquot·er, nounout·quote, verb (used with object), out·quot·ed, out·quot·ing.pre·quote, verb (used with object), pre·quot·ed, pre·quot·ing.re·quote, verb (used with object), re·quot·ed, re·quot·ing.su·per·quote, verb, su·per·quot·ed, su·per·quot·ing, nounun·quot·ed, adjective
Can be confusedquotation quote
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quoting

citing, naming, stating

Examples from the Web for quoting

Contemporary Examples of quoting

Historical Examples of quoting

  • When we only spoil you by praising and quoting everything you say.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • I got a dispatch from, him quoting the Virago of Paris—meaning the Figaro, of course.

  • So one might go on quoting felicity for ever from this writer.

    Green Mansions

    W. H. Hudson

  • I can only vouch for its veracity by quoting the famous phrase, "If you see it in the Sun, it is so."

    Concerning Cats

    Helen M. Winslow

  • “The realisation is a terrible thing,” writes our Scribe, quoting his Master.

    The Book of Khalid

    Ameen Rihani

British Dictionary definitions for quoting

quote

verb

to recite a quotation (from a book, play, poem, etc), esp as a means of illustrating or supporting a statement
(tr) to put quotation marks round (a word, phrase, etc)
stock exchange to state (a current market price) of (a security or commodity)

noun

an informal word for quotation (def. 1), quotation (def. 2), quotation (def. 3), quotation (def. 4)
(often plural) an informal word for quotation mark put it in quotes

interjection

an expression used parenthetically to indicate that the words that follow it form a quotationthe president said, quote, I shall not run for office in November, unquote

Word Origin for quote

C14: from Medieval Latin quotāre to assign reference numbers to passages, from Latin quot how many
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
Word Origin and History for quoting

quote

v.

late 14c., coten, "to mark (a book) with chapter numbers or marginal references," from Old French coter, from Medieval Latin quotare "distinguish by numbers, number chapters," from Latin quotus "which in order? what number (in sequence)?," from quot "how many," from PIE *kwo-ti-, from pronomial root *kwo- (see who).

The sense development is via "to give as a reference, to cite as an authority" (1570s) to "to copy out or repeat exact words" (1670s). Modern spelling with qu- is from early 15c. The business sense of "to state the price of a commodity" (1866) revives the etymological meaning. Related: Quoted; quoting.

quote

n.

"a quotation," 1885, from quote (v.). From c.1600 as "a marginal reference." Quotes for "quotation marks" is from 1869.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper