quote

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kwəʊt/, US /kwoʊt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English coten, later quoten,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French coter and directly from Medieval Latin quotāre (“to number chapters, mark off into chapters and verses”),^[3][2][4] from Latin quotus “which in number?”, from quot “how many”,^[3][2] from the PIE pronominal root Proto-Indo-European *kwo-.^[3] It is related to quota, quotient and who.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mark a book with chapter numbers or marginal references: 1387 in the OED, before 1387 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Higden.^[6][2] In Middle English it also meant to compute or reckon.^[3] The spelling with qu- is from the early 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense went through “to give the reference to a passage, cite as an authority” (1574)^[2][3] to “to copy out or repeat someone's exact words” (1670s, before 1680 in Butler).^[3][2] The business sense, to state a price (1866), revives the meaning of the Latin.^[3] The noun first meant a marginal reference (1600), and a quotation only from 1885.^[2][6] Quotes for quotation marks is by 1869.^[3] Quotation first meant numbering, and a marginal reference in the 16th century.^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1387 – to number a book's chapters.^[6][2]
• 1574 – to cite.^[2]
• 1600 – noun, a marginal reference.^[2]
• 1670s – to repeat exact words.^[3]
• 1866 – to state a price.^[3]
• 1869 – quotes, quotation marks.^[3]
• 1885 – noun, a quotation.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To repeat or write the exact words of another person or a book.
2. To mention as an example or evidence.
3. To state a price for goods or work.

Noun

1. (informal) A quotation.
2. (informal) An estimate of what a job will cost.
3. (quotes) Quotation marks.

Word family

• quoter
• pull-quote
• quoteworthy
• outquote
• requote
• underquote
• misquote
• quota

Related words

• quotation
• quotient
• unquote

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press