Did you know?
Cite, Sight, and Site
As homophones—words that sound alike but are distinct— cite, sight, and site are easily confused, but they have different meanings, uses, and origins.
Cite is most often encountered in the sense of "to name in a citation"—that is, a line or short section taken from a piece of writing or a speech; it may also mean "to mention as an example" or "to order to appear in a court of law." Cite is from the Latin citare, "to rouse, call on, summon," source too of citation and recite.
Most of the senses of sight are concerned with seeing. A wonderful spectacle might be described as a sight, as might the general capacity to see anything ("my sight is not as good as it once was"). Sight is also used in a number of fixed phrases, such as "out of sight, out of mind," "sight unseen," and "set one's sights on." Sight comes from Old English gesiht, meaning "the faculty or act of sight, thing seen."
Site is most often concerned with location; it is related to situate, "to locate," and situation, "relative position or combination of circumstances at a particular moment." A building site is the place where a building is, or will be, located. In contemporary English, site is frequently used as a shortened form of website, to refer to the location of a group of web pages. Site comes from Latin situs, meaning "place, position, site."
Associating citation with cite, eyesight with sight, and situate with site may be helpful in applying these correctly.
Examples of site in a Sentence
Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2025
Beginning in Málaga, the journey winds through Andalucía's cultural gems — Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba — offering golden-hour shoots at iconic sites like La Alhambra and Plaza de España.
—Jamie Carter, Space.com, 19 July 2025
Haq said that in June alone, more than 200 alerts were reported across displacement sites including reports about a lack of food, water, shelter or healthcare.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 July 2025
The site of a former Olive Garden in Scottsdale is being redeveloped into a senior living project called the Osborn, which will include 226-units in Old Town Scottsdale.
—Corina Vanek, AZCentral.com, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for site
Cite this Entry
“Site.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/site. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
site
noun
Share