citation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English citacioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman citacioun and citation,^[4][5] and partly also from Latin citātiō (“a summons”),^[4][6][7] a noun of action formed on the past participle of citō (“to summon, urge; set in motion”), the verb behind cite.^[6][2][3] That verb is a frequentative of cieō (“to set in motion, stir, call”), which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *keie- (“to set in motion”).^[6] In post-classical Latin the noun meant a legal summons from the 5th century, and a quotation from an author in Erasmus (before 1536);^[4] in Anglo-Norman it is recorded from 1346 for a summons to the Court of Rome or another church court.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of summoning someone before a court: c. 1325, in the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester.^[4] Etymonline dates the sense "summons, written notice to appear" to about 1300,^[6] and Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

For two centuries the word belonged to the courts, the church courts above all; from 1473, in the Paston Letters, it also named the written summons itself.^[4][8] In the 16th century, following the Latin of the humanists, it passed to scholarship: the act of quoting a passage or author as an authority is recorded from 1538 and a quoted passage from 1548,^[4] although Etymonline dates the passage sense to the 1540s and the act of quoting to the 1650s.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave three senses: calling a person before a judge, quoting another author's words, and the passage quoted.^[9] A general sense, "mention, enumeration", is found from 1640, and a reference showing where a quotation or text can be found from 1721.^[4] The military sense, a formal mention in a dispatch for brave or outstanding conduct, began in the United States in 1914,^[4] or 1918 according to Etymonline;^[6] today a citation is also the formal statement that accompanies an award.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – summoning before a court.^[4]
• 1473 – the written summons.^[4]
• 1538 – quoting a text or author as an authority.^[4]
• 1548 – a quoted passage;^[4] the 1540s in Etymonline.^[6]
• 1640 – a mention or enumeration.^[4]
• 1650s – the act of quoting, in Etymonline's dating.^[6]
• 1721 – a bibliographical reference.^[4]
• 1914 – (US) a formal mention in a military dispatch;^[4] 1918 in Etymonline.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A quotation from, or reference to, a book, author or other source, given as support or evidence.
2. The act of citing or quoting.
3. (law) A reference to an earlier court decision or other authority in support of a point of law.
4. An official commendation for bravery or outstanding service, or the formal statement that describes it: The firefighter received a citation for the rescue.
5. (law) An official summons to appear in court, or the document that contains it.
6. A listing or mention, as of facts.

Word family

• citational
• noncitation
• citation form

Related words

• cite
• recite
• excite
• incite

Usage notes

In West Yorkshire dialect a citation was a quantity or a large amount, as in Howitt's Hope On (1840), where strong tea comes with plenty of cream in it.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)