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Origin and history of quotation

quotation(n.)

mid-15c., "numbering," later (1530s) "marginal notation," noun of action from quote (v.) or else from Medieval Latin quotationem (nominative quotatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of quotare "to number."

Meaning "an act of quoting or citing" is from 1640s; that of "passage quoted, that which is repeated or cited as the utterance of another speaker or writer" is from 1680s. Meaning "the current price of commodities or stocks, as published," is by 1812. Quotation mark, one of the marks to denote the beginning and end of a quotation, is attested by 1777.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to quotation

quote(v.)

late 14c., coten, "to mark or annotate (a book) with chapter numbers or marginal references" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French coter and directly from Medieval Latin quotare "distinguish by numbers, mark off into chapters and verses," from Latin quotus "which in order? what number (in sequence)?," from quot "how many," from PIE *kwo-ti-, from pronominal root *kwo-.

The sense development is via "to give as a reference, to cite as an authority" (1570s) to "to copy out or repeat exact words" (1670s), in writing or printing, "inclose within quotation marks." In Middle English also "to compute, reckon." The modern spelling with qu- is attested from early 15c. The business sense of "to state the price of a commodity" (1866) revives the etymological meaning. Also see unquote. Related: Quoted; quoting.

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    Trends of quotation

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    citation
    c. 1300, "summons, written notice to appear," from Old French citation or directly from Latin citationem (nominative citatio) "a command," noun of action from past participle stem of citare "to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite" (see cite). Mea
    cite
    mid-15c., "to summon, call upon officially," from Old French citer "to summon" (14c.), from Latin citare "to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite," frequentative of ciere "to move, set in motion, stir, rouse, call, invite" from PIE root *keie- "to
    abandon
    freedom from self-restraint, surrender to natural impulses," by 1822 as a French word in English (it remained in italics or quotation...
    sic
    "such," a Latin word insertion parenthetically in printed quotation to call attention to error in the original; literally...
    close
    Close call "narrow escape" is from 1866, in a quotation in an anecdote from 1863, possibly a term from the American Civil...
    authority
    c. 1200, autorite, auctorite "authoritative passage or statement, book or quotation that settles an argument, passage from...
    excerpt
    "to take or cull out" a passage in a written or printed work, "select, cite, extract," early 15c. (implied in past participle excerpte "taken from a book"), from Latin excerptus, past participle of excerpere "pluck out, pick out, extract," figuratively "choose, select, gather," a
    epigraph
    1620s, "inscription on a building, statue, etc.," from Greek epigraphē "an inscription," from epigraphein "to mark the surface, just pierce; write on, inscribe; to register; inscribe one's name, endorse," from epi "on" (see epi-) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Sense of "mot
    pattern
    a Modern English variant of patron, retaining its other old sense of "outline, plan, model, an original proposed for imitation," from Old French patron "patron, protector; model, pattern." The difference in form and sense between English patron and pattern wasn't firm before 1700

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