cite

Etymology 1

From Old French citer, from Latin citare (“to cause to move, excite, summon”), frequentative of ciēre (“to rouse, excite, call”).

verb

1. (transitive) To quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another.
   WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. 2013-06-07, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18
2. (transitive) To mention; to make mention of.
   Until then, the Sunak administration remains a study in ineffectuality on multiple fronts, leading Goldsmith to cite, not unreasonably, “a kind of paralysis”. 2023-06-30, Marina Hyde, “The tide is coming in fast on Rishi Sunak – and it’s full of sewage”, in The Guardian
3. To list the source(s) from which one took information, words or literary or verbal context.
4. To summon officially or authoritatively to appear in court.

Etymology 2

From the first syllable of citation. Analogous to quote, from quotation.

noun

1. (informal) A citation.
   We used the number of cites as a rough measure of the significance of each published paper.