quotation mark

noun

1. one of the marks used to indicate the beginning and end of a quotation, in English usually shown as “ at the beginning and ” at the end, or, for a quotation within a quotation, of single marks of this kind, as “He said, ‘I will go.’ ” Frequently, especially in Great Britain, single marks are used instead of double, the latter being then used for a quotation within a quotation.

quotation mark

noun

1. either of the punctuation marks used to begin or end a quotation, respectively “ and ” or ‘ and ’ in English printing and writing. When double marks are used, single marks indicate a quotation within a quotation, and vice versa Also calledinverted comma

Word History and Origins

Origin of quotation mark¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Berlant, a gifted physical comic who whipsaws between over-the-top grandeur and abject awkwardness, introduces her situations with a wink — and even the winks are delivered in quotation marks.

From Los Angeles Times

After Business Insider ran its first article, reporting that in four cases her dissertation lifted wordings from other academics without using quotation marks, Oxman apologized.

From Science Magazine

"Who are we to them? This is coming from the party of 'law and order' in quotation marks. I cannot believe those policies anymore because they do not believe that."

From Salon

A review ordered by Harvard acknowledged “duplicative language” and missing quotation marks, but it concluded the errors “were not considered intentional or reckless” and didn’t rise to misconduct.

From Seattle Times

Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications, the statement said.

From Seattle Times