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Origin and history of cite

cite(v.)

mid-15c., "to summon, call upon officially," from Old French citer "to summon" (14c.), from Latin citare "to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite," frequentative of ciere "to move, set in motion, stir, rouse, call, invite" from PIE root *keie- "to set in motion, to move to and fro."

Sense of "call forth a passage of writing, quote the words of another" is first attested 1530s. Related: Cited; citing.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to cite

citation(n.)

c. 1300, "summons, written notice to appear," from Old French citation or directly from Latin citationem (nominative citatio) "a command," noun of action from past participle stem of citare "to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite" (see cite).

Meaning "passage cited, quotation" is from 1540s; meaning "act of citing or quoting a passage from a book, etc." is from 1650s; in law, especially "a reference to decided cases or statutes." From 1918 as "a mention in an official dispatch."

incite(v.)

mid-15c., from Old French inciter, enciter "stir up, excite, instigate" (14c.), from Latin incitare "to put into rapid motion," figuratively "rouse, urge, encourage, stimulate," from in- "into, in, on, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + citare "move, excite" (see cite). Related: Incited; inciting.

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recite
early 15c., "state something" (in legal proceedings); mid-15c., "relate the facts or particulars of," from Old French reciter (12c.) and directly from Latin recitare "read aloud, read out, repeat from memory, declaim," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + citare "to summon" (see ci
resuscitate
1530s, "revive, restore, revivify (a thing), restore (a person) to life," from Latin resuscitatus, past participle of resuscitare "rouse again, revive," from re- "again" (see re-) + suscitare "to raise, revive," from sub "(up from) under" (see sub-) + citare "to summon" (see cite
summon
c. 1200, somnen, "call, send for, ask the presence of," especially "call, cite, or notify by authority to be at a certain place at a certain time" (late 13c.), from Anglo-French sumunre and directly from Old French somonre, variant of sumundre, somondre "summon." This is from Vul
object
line of reasoning, etc.)," from Old French objecter and directly from Latin obiectus, past participle of obiectare "to cite...
phishing
details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication" [Wikipedia], by 2000 (many sources cite...
excerpt
"to take or cull out" a passage in a written or printed work, "select, cite, extract," early 15c....
adduce
"to bring forward, present, or offer, cite as authority or evidence," early 15c., adducen, from Latin adducere "lead to,...
vouch
early 14c., "summon into court to prove a title," from Anglo-French voucher, Old French vocher "to call, summon, invoke, claim," probably from Gallo-Roman *voticare, metathesis of Latin vocitare "to call to, summon insistently," frequentative of Latin vocare "to call, call upon,
name
"word by which a person or thing is denoted," Old English nama, noma "name, reputation," from Proto-Germanic *naman- (source also of Old Saxon namo, Old Frisian nama, Old High German namo, German Name, Middle Dutch name, Dutch naam, Old Norse nafn, Gothic namo "name"), from PIE r
mane
"growth of long hair on the back of the neck and shoulders," characteristic of the horse, lion, and some other animals, Old English manu "mane of a horse," from Proto-Germanic *mano (source also of Old Norse mön, Old Frisian mana, Middle Dutch mane, Dutch manen, Old High German m

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