Definition, synonyms and related words
plural of quote
"The editor asked me to check all the direct quotes from the interview before publishing the article."
In plain English: Quotes are pieces of text taken directly from someone else's words and put inside quotation marks to show they were said by that person.
"The article is full of famous quotes from historical leaders."
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of quote
"She always quotes her favorite author to inspire her students."
In plain English: To quote means to repeat someone else's exact words, usually by putting them inside quotation marks.
"She quoted an old saying to comfort her friend."
Quotes derives from Old French coter, meaning to count or tally, which entered English via Middle English as an accounting term for entries in a ledger. The modern sense of citing someone's words evolved later through the verb form quote, originally used in legal and commercial contexts before becoming standard literary usage.