reference

Compared meaning: mentioning or quoting a source (noun).

比较义项：提及／引用信息来源（名词）。

• reference 本词

  Reference means simply pointing to or mentioning a source, without necessarily giving its exact wording; it is the broadest and most general of the three.

  reference 只是笼统地提到或指向某个信息来源，不一定给出逐字原文，是三者中含义最宽泛、笼统的一个。

  The article makes reference to several studies without quoting any of them directly.

  这篇文章提到了几项研究，但没有直接引用其中任何一项的原文。

• citation

  A citation is a formal, precise note pointing to a source, usually placed right after the quoted words, common in academic or legal writing.

  citation 是紧跟在被引用文字之后、对来源做出的正式、精确标注，常见于学术或法律写作。

  The citation (Smith, 2020) appears in brackets right after the quoted sentence.

  引用标注（史密斯，2020年）紧跟在被引用的句子后面，用括号标出。

• quotation

  A quotation is the exact wording copied from a text or speech, usually set off with quotation marks, rather than just a note about the source.

  quotation 指从原文或讲话中逐字抄录下来的话语，通常用引号标出，而不仅仅是一个来源标注。

  He began his speech with a famous quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.

  他在演讲开头引用了马丁·路德·金的一句名言。

Reference, citation, and quotation all relate to mentioning a source, but differ in precision. Reference points to a source, without giving its exact words. Citation is a note pointing to a source, common in academic writing. Quotation is the exact wording copied from a text.

这三个词都可以表示在文章或讲话中提及、引用某个来源，但侧重点不同：reference 只是笼统地提到或指向某个来源，不一定逐字照搬原文；citation 强调正式、规范地标注来源，常见于学术或法律写作；quotation 特指逐字抄录下来的原文话语，通常加引号标出。这里不比较 reference 表示「推荐信／证明人」的用法，也不比较 citation 表示「罚单」或「表彰」的用法，也不比较 quotation 表示「报价」的用法。