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
The site also contains links to voter registration resources. Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 The minimum price for any game at Dodger Stadium on Vivid Seats, another resale site: $1,202. Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024 Investigators searching for debris While the cause of the crash is unknown, the NTSB told CNN additional investigators were set to arrive at the site Monday evening to examine and recover the aircraft. Hanna Park, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024 In the Sunday, Oct. 20 episode, Russell helps to get Colter, who was looking for a man who went missing while seeking answers about aliens, out of a strange government black site. Breanne L. Heldman, People.com, 21 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for site 

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 31 Oct. 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

More from Merriam-Webster on site

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!