Plagiarism
/ˈpleɪdʒiəˌrɪzəm/noun
The practice of taking someone else’s words, ideas, or work and presenting them as your own.
Did you know?Plagiarism comes from Latin *plagiarius*, meaning “kidnapper” or “slave dealer,” so the word for intellectual theft was originally a term for human theft.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
plagiarius
“kidnapper; slave dealer”
Latin
Latin
plagium
“the crime of kidnapping or stealing slaves”
16th–17th Century
French
plagiaire
“a literary thief; one who steals another’s work”
17th Century
English
plagiary
“a literary thief or plagiarist”
Modern English
English
plagiarism
“the act of presenting another’s work or ideas as one’s own”