Sight is about seeing — the sense itself, or something you look at: "her sight is failing", "the harbour at dusk is a lovely sight". Site is a place: a plot of land, a location where something happens, or a page on the internet: "a construction site", "the site of the battle", "check the site for prices". The two overlap only in sound.
The core difference
Sight belongs to the eyes. It covers the faculty of vision ("perfect sight"), the act of seeing ("the sight of blood"), the thing seen ("the sights of Rome"), and the aiming device on a rifle or telescope.
Site belongs to the ground. It is a piece of land set aside for something, the spot where an event took place, or — by extension — an address on the web.
How to use each
- Sight: "He caught sight of her on the platform." "The cliffs are worth the walk for the sight alone." "Keep the bag in sight."
- Site: "They fenced off the site before digging began." "This is the site of the old mill." "I booked it through their site."
The test that settles it
Try swapping in location or place. If it works — "the location of the crash", "a camping location" — write site. If instead view, vision or spectacle fits, write sight.
The memory trick
Site and situated both start the same way, and a site is where something is situated. Sight has the same -igh- as light, and you need light to see.
Don't forget cite
There is a third homophone. Cite is a verb meaning to quote a source or to summon formally: "the report cites three studies", "he was cited for speeding". If you are referring to evidence rather than a place or a view, you want cite. The noun form is citation, which is a useful check — no such word as "sightation" or "sitation" exists.
Set phrases people get wrong
- Sight unseen — buying something without looking at it. Not "site unseen", even for property.
- Out of sight, out of mind — vision, not location.
- A sight for sore eyes — always sight.
- On site / on-site — at the location. "On-site parking", "work carried out on site".
- Set your sights on — from the aiming device, so sights.
Web usage
The internet sense is always site, and modern style closes it up: website, one word, lower case. "Web site" as two words is dated but not wrong. When people write "visit our sight", the mistake is easy to spot with the swap test — "visit our location" works, "visit our view" does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it "website" or "web sight"?
Website — one word, with site. It is a location on the web, so the place spelling applies. "Web sight" is always an error.
Is it "sight unseen" or "site unseen"?
"Sight unseen." The phrase means you have not laid eyes on the thing before agreeing to buy it, so it is about vision. People often write "site unseen" when the item is a house, but that is still a misspelling.
When do I use cite instead?
Use cite when you mean quoting or referring to a source, or being formally summoned: "the article cites new data", "cited for a parking offence". If you could say "reference", you want cite.