Citation
/saɪˈteɪʃən/noun
A mention or quotation of a source, or an official summons to appear before an authority.
Did you know?In English law, a citation could mean a legal call to appear before a court, so the word carried real power long before it lived in footnotes.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*keie-
“to set in motion, stir up”
Latin
Latin
citāre
“to summon, call, rouse, set in motion”
Latin
Latin
citātiō
“a summons, citation, official call”
Old French
Old French
citation
“a summons; a quotation or reference”
Middle English
English
citation
“a summons to appear; later, a reference to authority or text”
Modern English
English
citation
“a reference to a source, or an official summons in law”