Sighting or siting?
sighting is a noun meaning “An instance of catching sight of something, especially something searched for”; siting is a noun meaning “The act of finding a site for something”. They sound the same (/ˈsaɪtɪŋ/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) sighting is about 4.2 times as common as siting.
What is the difference between sighting and siting?
| sighting | siting | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | An instance of catching sight of something, especially something searched for | The act of finding a site for something |
| Example | There will be a small prize for the first sighting of a seal | none recorded |
| Forms | sightings | sitings |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsaɪtɪŋ/ | /ˈsaɪtɪŋ/ |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: sighting and siting in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sighting and siting
sighting
- 1
An instance of catching sight of something, especially something searched for
There will be a small prize for the first sighting of a seal
siting
- 1
The act of finding a site for something
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sighting or siting?
sighting appears 2.0 times per million words; siting about once in every 2 million words.
sighting 2.0 times per million wordssiting about once in every 2 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).