Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CITE, v.t. [L. cito, to call; Fr. citer; It. citare; Sp. and Port. citar; Goth. haitan; Sax. hætan, or hatan, to call, order, command; G. heissen, whence Eng. behest; D. heeten; Sw. heta; Dan. heder. The same word in Dutch and Danish signifies to heat. The sense then is to rouse, push, drive, stimulate. See Excite, Incite.]

1. To call upon officially, or authoritatively; to summon; to give legal or official notice, as to a defendant to appear in court, to answer or defend. – Milton.
2. To enjoin; to direct; to summon; to order or urge. – Prior.
3. To quote; to name or repeat, as a passage or the words of another, either from a book or from verbal communication; as, to cite a passage from Scripture, or to cite the very words a man utters. – Bacon. Dryden.
4. To call or name, in support, proof, or confirmation; as, to cite an authority to prove a point in law.