cite vs refer to

cite

noun
  • a citation 

verb
  • to quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another. 

  • to list the source(s) from which one took information, words or literary or verbal context. 

  • to summon officially or authoritatively to appear in court. 

refer to

How often have the words cite and refer to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )