A quotation is the exact words someone else wrote or said, repeated by another person, usually to support a point, illustrate an idea, or share something memorable.

What is a quotation?

  • It is a sentence, phrase, or short passage taken from someone else’s speech or writing and repeated word‑for‑word.
  • In writing, it is normally enclosed in quotation marks (or similar symbols) to show that the words are not yours.
  • In speaking, it often comes after phrases like “She said”, “He asked”, or “According to…”.

A simple example:

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.”

Here, you are quoting someone’s exact words.

Other meanings of “quotation”

The word “quotation” is also used in a few other common ways:

  • In business: A quotation is a formal statement from a seller that lists the price and terms for goods or services, often given before a deal is agreed.
  • In finance: It can mean the stated current price of a stock or other traded item.
  • As an action: “Quotation” can mean the act or process of quoting.

Mini recap (TL;DR)

  • In everyday reading and writing, “quotation” usually means someone’s exact words, repeated and marked with quotation marks.
  • In business or finance, a “quotation” can be an official price or price statement.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.