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quotation

quotation

62 2.6
A short piece of someone else's words used to support an idea with the source named
  • noun
  • /kwəˈteɪʃən/
translation icon : cita
  • It's a book of quotations.
  • a direct quotation
  • quotation marks
  • quotations from other sources

And each of these chapter headings begins with a quotation from Marcus Aurelius.

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Examples

  • And this is a quotation from President Lowell.

  • There's a lovely quotation from Thurgood Marshall.

  • And so a lot of rich ideas there in in that quotation, I would say.

  • My favorite quotation from you.

  • But the language of the report, especially in this quotation, does raise questions.

    Academic text (2017)
  • This morning during your office appointment, I referred to a quotation, remember?

  • And I just want to read you this quotation from Robinson.

  • I stopped near the front door to read a Lincoln quotation on a plaque on the building.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • And when that happens, we know from the quotation I read earlier from Hannah Aaron, we know where that leads.

  • In her essay, she included a powerful quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. to support her argument.

Synonyms

quote
vsquotation
430 1.6

A short passage from a book or speech that someone repeats

is broader and also covers the act of giving credit to the source
citation
vsquotation
  • Specialized
49 5.1

A note showing where information comes from, like a book or article

also covers the passage itself, not only the source note
blockquote
vsquotation
  • Texting
2 4.5

A section of text quoted from another source and set apart by indenting

is the general idea and does not focus on visual presentation
direct quotation
vsquotation
1 3.0

The exact words someone said or wrote shown in quotation marks

is more general, covering both the act and the material
to pull quote
vsquotation
  • Literature
1 4.6

To take a short line from a text and show it separately to get attention

is the general term for the act rather than a layout device
direct discourse
vsquotation
  • Specialized
6.3

Repeating the exact words someone said or thought, usually in quote marks

is used more widely, not only for reporting speech
excerption
vsquotation
9.9

A short part taken from a longer text for reading or study

is narrower, focusing on selection rather than the full act

Compounds

Small signs in writing used to show the exact words someone said or a short title like a song

The exact words someone said or wrote shown in quotation marks

How Formal

citation
  • Specialized
49 5.1
reference
83 3.7
quotation
62 2.6
to mention
1.0

Surface Forms

quotation singular
quotations plural

Morphology

quotation = quote (transparent) = quote + ation

Standard nominalization of the verb 'quote' to indicate the act or the quoted passage; the bibliographic sense is the direct result of this nominalization.

Etymology

Quotation comes from an old root quot- meaning 'how many', and it is the same root behind the word quote. Long ago writers used numbers to mark exact lines, so a quotation came to mean the exact 'words' taken from someone else or the act of repeating them.