Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell cite

hear itcite/saɪt/verbSchwa and roots

What it means: To refer to a source for proof.

In a sentence: In class, I learned how to cite a book for my report.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as site or sight.

Sounds like, but is not: sight, site. Same sound, different spelling and meaning.

Same family: citation, cited, citing, quote, reference. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Cite” comes from the Latin verb *citare*, meaning “to set in motion” or “to summon.” Over time, it came to mean “to summon as evidence,” which is why we now use it for referring to sources in writing.

Patterns it uses: Drop the e before a suffix?

Try spelling it

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