plagiarism
- an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author: It is said that he plagiarized Thoreau's plagiarism of a line written by Montaigne.
- a piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation: “These two manuscripts are clearly plagiarisms,” the editor said, tossing them angrily on the floor.
Origin of plagiarism
Examples from the Web for plagiarism
Contemporary Examples
In the piece, Gladwell asked, “Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life?”
CNN presenter Fareed Zakaria has been hit by another wave of plagiarism accusations.
In November 2013, Driscoll was accused of plagiarism by radio talk show host Janet Mefferd.
Megachurch Mars Hill To close Doors: What Does the Future Hold Now?Warren Throckmorton
November 2, 2014
Dorothy Parker once noted that “the only ‘ism’ Hollywood cares about is plagiarism.”
To help make a case, the suit attempts to establish both opportunity and a pattern of plagiarism on the part of the band.
Historical Examples
She borrowed it now in her hour of need, and laughed, unconscious of her plagiarism.
Audrey CravenMay Sinclair
But it was when they charged him with plagiarism that his critics hit him on the raw.
RecollectionsDavid Christie Murray
The two match-boxes were just alike, but neither was a plagiarism.
Pages From an Old Volume of LifeOliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Randal Leslie might be mean in his plagiarism, but he turned the useless into use.
My Novel, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Besides all this, there is the painful question of plagiarism.
The English Utilitarians, Volume II (of 3)Leslie Stephen
plagiarism
- the act of plagiarizing
- something plagiarized
Word Origin and History for plagiarism
n.
1620s, from -ism + plagiary (n.) "plagiarist, literary thief" (1590s), from Latin plagiarius "kidnapper, seducer, plunderer, one who kidnaps the child or slave of another," used by Martial in the sense of "literary thief," from plagiare "to kidnap," plagium "kidnapping," from plaga "snare, hunting net," perhaps from PIE *plag- (on notion of "something extended"), from root *plak- (1) "to be flat" (see placenta).
plagiarism
Literary theft. Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer's language or ideas and then calls the work his or her own. Copyright laws protect writers' words as their legal property. To avoid the charge of plagiarism, writers take care to credit those from whom they borrow and quote.