Quick answer
Use sight for anything to do with seeing: vision, a view, or spotting something. Use cite when you quote or refer to a source. Memory hook: you cite a source, and you sight a ship on the horizon.
The core difference
Sight is about seeing, while cite is about quoting or naming a source as evidence.
- sight — the ability to see, something worth seeing, or to spot something: The crew sighted land after weeks at sea.
- cite — to quote or refer to a source, or to summon someone to court: Make sure to cite your sources in the bibliography.
How to tell them apart
Ask yourself whether your sentence is about the eyes or about evidence. If someone is looking at, losing or spotting something, you want sight. If someone is pointing to a book, a case or a ruling to back up a point, you want cite.
The mix-up mostly shows up in essays and reports, where writers put sight your sources instead of cite your sources. A quick trick: cite and source both feel formal and academic, while sight is right there in sight-seeing.
Frequently asked questions
Is it sight your sources or cite your sources?
It is cite your sources. Cite means to refer to a source as evidence, so it is the correct verb for essays and reports.
Can sight be a verb?
Yes. To sight something means to see or spot it, often after searching, as in the crew sighted land after weeks at sea.
What else can cite mean?
Cite can also mean to officially order someone to appear in court, as in he was cited for failing to appear at the hearing.
