Cite, Cyte, Sight, and Site
- David Fisher
- Sep 10
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 20
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore
For non-native English speakers, English homophones are a real challenge. These are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
Let's examine a particularly confusing group: cite, cyte, sight, and site.
Cite
Cite is a verb that means to mention or quote something or somebody as an example, especially in a formal or academic context. Think of it as giving credit to your sources
Example: You must cite all the sources you used in your research paper.
In a research paper - A student is writing an essay about the causes of the Great Depression. They want to include a fact from a well-known economist, John Maynard Keynes, to support their argument.
The student writes - Keynes argued that a lack of aggregate demand was the primary driver of the economic downturn, a theory that fundamentally changed the way governments approached economic crises (Keynes, 1936).
In this example, the student is citing John Maynard Keynes by including the year of his publication in parentheses, letting the reader know that the idea came from him. This is a crucial practice in academic writing to avoid plagiarism.
Cyte
The word cyte is much less common and is typically found in scientific and medical terms. It is a suffix or combining form used to refer to a cell.
Example: The doctor's report mentioned an increase in the patient's leukocyte count. (Leukocyte means white blood cell.)
Sight
The word sight is a noun with several meanings, most of which relate to vision or seeing.
Definition 1: The ability to see.
Example: He lost his sight after the accident.
Definition 2: Something that you see or that is worth seeing.
Example: The Grand Canyon is an amazing sight to behold.
Site
Site spelled this way is a noun that refers to a specific location or place.
Example: We visited the site of the new stadium.
Example: I found that information on a travel site.
The words cite, cyte, sight, and site are difficult to remember, especially when writing, because they sound the same but have different meanings. Their similar pronunciation often creates confusion, leading you to select the wrong word, but after reading this article you won't make that mistake, will you?
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