Definition of: quote

(kwōt) v. quot·ed, quot·ing v.t.
1. To repeat or reproduce the words of.
2. To repeat or cite (a rule, author, etc.), as for authority or illustration.
3. In commerce: a To state (a price), b To give the current or market price of.
4. Printing To enclose within quotation marks.
—v.i.
5. To make a quotation, as from a book.
—noun A quotation; also, a quotation mark. [<Med. L quotare distinguish by number <L quot how many]
—quot′a·ble adjective
—quot′er noun
—quote′·wor′thy (-wûr′thē) adjective
—quot′ing·ly adverb Synonyms (verb): cite, excerpt, extract, paraphrase, plagiarize, recite, repeat. To quote is to give an author's words, either exactly, as in direct quotation, or in substance, as in indirect quotation; to cite is, etymologically, to call up a passage, as a witness is summoned. In citing a passage its exact location by chapter, page, or otherwise must be given, so that it can be promptly called into evidence; in quoting, the location may or may not be given, but the words or substance of the passage must be given. To paraphrase is to state an author's thought more freely than in indirect quotation, keeping the substance of his thought and his order of statement, but changing the language and style, and perhaps expanding by explanation, inference, etc. To plagiarize is to quote without credit, appropriating another's words or thought as one's own. To recite or repeat is usually to quote orally, but recite is applied in legal phrase to a particular statement of facts which is not a quotation.