site

1 of 2

noun

ˈsīt 

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.

Synonyms

Noun

• emplacement
• locale
• locality
• location
• locus
• place
• point
• position
• spot
• venue
• where

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

Controllers at virtually all larger FAA sites, including Air Route Traffic Control Centers and Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities, have six-day work weeks based on actual facility staffing levels compared to volume and complexity, the controller said. —Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025

The appeal was submitted by La Jolla resident Chris Connolly, who lives next to the site, on grounds that the project was proceeding without adequate input from affected neighbors or consideration of potential environmental impacts and La Jolla’s character. —Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025

Verizon said in September 2023 that at sites described in the Wall Street Journal article, soil lead levels near Verizon cables were similar to lead levels in the surrounding area and did not pose a public health risk. —Ars Technica, 11 Feb. 2025

Related article Power cut to site of global, billion-dollar scam industry. —Sérène Nourrisson, CNN, 11 Feb. 2025

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

Phrases Containing site

• active site
• binding site
• bomb site
• multi-site
• off-site
• on-site
• site map
• sub-site
• web site
• work site

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

: website

Medical Definition

site

noun

ˈsīt 

: the place, scene, or point of something

the site of inflammation

see active site