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cite.

Verb
General
MEANING

1. To refer to a source, fact, or example as support or attribution.

2. To require appearance or record an offense through official notice.

3. To mention officially in recognition of achievement.

Use it for

Words that belong together

  • cite evidence
  • cite a source

On the page

The report cites three independent studies.
Word forms
Base
cite
Past tense
cited
Past participle
cited
Present participle
citing
Full tense & aspect guide
Present
cite
Present continuous
am/is/are citing
Present perfect
have/has cited
Present perfect continuous
have/has been citing
Past
cited
Past continuous
was/were citing
Past perfect
had cited
Past perfect continuous
had been citing
Future
will cite
Future continuous
will be citing
Future perfect
will have cited
Future perfect continuous
will have been citing

Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: cite; cites; cited; cited; citing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: argumentation, evidence, inference. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: cites.

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