quote

quote, cite, repeat are not close synonyms, though all mean to speak or write again something already said or written by another.

Quote usually implies a use of another's words, commonly with faithful exactness or an attempt at it, for some special effect like adornment, illustration, close examination

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I will quote a passage which is unfamiliar enough to be regarded with fresh attention— T. S. Eliot

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But sometimes quote is applied to a more general referral to someone as the author or source of information without implication of precise reproduction of an original statement

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don't quote me as your authority

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in one sense we are quoting all the time. To whistle Tin Pan Alley's latest inanity is to quote. ... To transmit the tired gag of a television comic is to quote— Fadiman

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Cite is likely to stress the idea of adducing, bringing forward, or mentioning for a particular reason, like substantiation or proof, with or without the idea of uttering another's words

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the critic cited in the opening of this chapter— Leavis

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{

asked a senator if he could cite a single piece of legislation enacted solely for the benefit of the public— Armbrister

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Repeat stresses the fact of a saying or writing over again of someone else's words often with no reference to the source

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repeat a rumor

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Typically it carries none of the implication of formal or dignified reasons for the procedure that attaches to quote and cite

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unrealistic to go on repeating phrases about the connection of industry with personal independence— Dewey

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Analogous words: *adduce, allege, advance quotidian *daily, diurnal, circadian