site

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures (such as a building, town, or monuments)
b
: a space of ground occupied or to be occupied by a building
2
a
: the place, scene, or point of an occurrence or event
a picnic site
b
: one or more Internet addresses at which an individual or organization provides information to others
an FTP site
especially : website

site

2 of 2

verb

sited; siting

transitive verb

: to place on a site or in position : locate

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

Noun Hard hats must be worn on the construction site. They visited the site of their future house. The company has chosen a new site for its office building. the site of the battle Federal investigators combed through the crash site.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Texans in search of online adult content found disappointment Thursday after the website Pornhub suspended services in their state over objections to an age verification law that the site claims stifles First Amendment rights. Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 The Kansas star gave the insight following pressure from X users and the platform’s owner, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to share his content on the site. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024 As the site fell into disrepair, six were subsequently looted, and in the 1800s, one statue of Chapungu was given to Cecil Rhodes. Rosa Rahimi, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024 Those sites represent shifting centers of power, influence and reigning cultural philosophy within the country, beginning with the isolationist Joseon dynasty that ruled for half a millennium, before the tumultuous modern era. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024 While there’s still time to buy tickets to see the NCAA Tournament in person on sites such as Stubhub, VividSeats and SeatGeek, there are plenty of ways to watch the games from home. Variety Staff, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024 At the heart of the dispute is a wide gap between what the VTA hopes to pay for the property and what Swenson believes the site is worth. George Avalos, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024 Other ballots are transported from secure drop boxes and in-person polling sites by bipartisan teams. Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2024 As before, the launch took place at SpaceX’s private Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville on the Gulf of Mexico. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'site.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, place, position, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French sit, site, from Latin situs, from sinere to leave, allow

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of site was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near site

Cite this Entry

“Site.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/site. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

site

noun
ˈsīt
1
: local position (as of a building, town, or monument)
2
: the place or scene of an occurrence or event
a picnic site
3

Medical Definition

site

noun
: the place, scene, or point of something
the site of inflammation
see active site

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