cite

To notify a person of a proceeding against him or her or to call a person forth to appear in court.

To make reference to a legal authority, such as a case, in a citation.

Cases, statutes, constitutions, treatises, and other similar authorities are cited to support a certain view of law on an issue. When writing a legal brief, an attorney may wish to strengthen his or her position by referring to cases that support what he or she is saying in order to persuade the court to make a ruling favorable for the client.

Cross-references

Precedent; Stare Decisis.

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cite v. 1) to make reference to a decision in another case to make a legal point in argument. 2) to give notice of being charged with a minor crime and a date for appearance in court to answer the charge rather than being arrested (usually given by a police officer). (See: citation)

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cite (Accuse), verb allege, blame, bring a charge, bring an action, call to account, censure, challenge, charge, complain, denounce, discredit, impeach, impute, incriminate, inform against, lodge a commlaint, make a complaint

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cite (State), verb advance, attest, authenticate, bring forward, certify, circumstantiate, document, enunciate, evidence, evince, exemplify, exhibit, express, give as example, illustrate, indicate, introduce as an example, maintain, make evident, make reference to, manifest, name, point to, predicate, present as proof, prove, quote, recite, refer to, refer to legal authorities, set forth, show, show evidence, show proof, specify, substantiate, use in support of propositions of law
Associated concepts: cite a case as precedence

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See also: accuse, acknowledge, adduce, allege, allude, arraign, bear, blame, charge, complain, condemn, denounce, exemplify, extract, honor, illustrate, mention, order, posit, present, quote, recognize, refer, specify, summon