quotation

Definition

A fragment of a human expression that is repeated by somebody else, for example from literature or a famous speech.

Etymology

The obsolete sense of “quota”, from Medieval Latin quotātiō, from Latin quotāre, is attested from the 15th century. The sense “fragment of verbal expression”, attested from the 17th century, may come from this source, or else from the verb quote + -ation.

Example Sentences

• ""Where they burn books, they will also burn people" is a famous quotation from Heinrich Heine."
• "One of these preachers was a blacksmith, whose iron constitution had entirely given way, and the little strength that remained he exhausted in endless quotation of texts from the Bible."
• "Mr. [Augustine] Birrell has, as usual, quoted very liberally, and to excellent effect. Quotation is an art the difficulty of which may easily be underrated by paragraph-writers or by persons who do not write at all. You may say no end of wise things about a writer, and yet fail to convey a sense of the peculiar flavor for which you really value him. To insinuate a phrase or verse of our author into the midst of our own readable (because ephemeral) discourse, is all most of us may do, without giving our readers an unpalatable suspicion that they are being seduced into the perusal of a real author. Mr. Birrell quotes by the page, and we gratefully read every line because we are sure Mr. Birrell, at least, is incapable of asking us to read anything inconsequent or dull."