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Place vs Position vs Location vs Situation vs Site vs Spot vs Station

Placepositionlocationsituationsitespotstation are comparable when they mean the point or portion of space occupied by or chosen for a thing.

Place, the most general of these terms, carries as its basic implication the idea of extension in space, though often with no clear connotation of how great or how small that extent is; in some use it comes very close to space in meaning, but it more usually implies a limited, though not always clearly defined, extent of space.

Position is capable of abstract as well as concrete use and therefore may be employed whether the thing referred to is immaterial or material, ideal or actual, or invisible or visible; it usually also implies place in relation to something in particular.

Location is used in a concrete sense implying a fixed but not necessarily a clearly definite place for something or sometimes a person; it may refer to the place as found or as usable as well as to the place actually occupied by a thing.

Situation may differ from location in being more specific about the character of the surroundings.

Site, though close to situation in many ways, carries a clearer reference to the land on which something specific (as a building, a group of buildings, or a town) is built.

Spot, only in an extended sense, implies a particular place, clearly defined in extent, which may be occupied or occupiable by a person or thing or may be the scene of an occurrence or activity; the word carries a stronger implication of restricted space than of its particular use.

Station implies the place where a person or sometimes a thing stands or is set to stand; it usually carries an implication of accepted responsibility (as in performance of duty or participation in a game).