In Learning HTML 3.2 by Examples beschreibt Jukka Korpela als Zweck des Elementes cite To present a citation or reference to other sources, such as a book title.

Ebenfalls in Learning HTML 3.2 by Examples führt er aus:

There are different opinions and practices on whether CITE is to be used for such citations as titles of books only or for quoting sentences or words in general. The official documents are laconic: for example, HTML 3.2 Reference Specification says that CITE is used for citations or references to other sources.

Diese Frage wird in html 4.01 zwar auch nicht explizit beantwortet, durch die Einführung des Elementes q für zitierten Text implizit allerdings schon.