Etymologically
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quote

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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
  • 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