piracy

[ pahy-ruh-see ]

noun

, plural pi·ra·cies.

1. practice of a pirate; robbery or illegal violence at sea.
2. the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc.:

   The record industry is beset with piracy.

3. Also called stream capture. Geology. diversion of the upper part of one stream by the headward growth of another.

piracy

/ ˈpaɪrəsɪ /

noun

1. robbery on the seas within admiralty jurisdiction
2. a felony, such as robbery or hijacking, committed aboard a ship or aircraft
3. the unauthorized use or appropriation of patented or copyrighted material, ideas, etc

Other Words From

• anti·pira·cy noun plural antipiracies adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of piracy¹

1545–55; earlier pyracie < Medieval Latin pīrātīa < Late Greek peirāteía. See pirate, -acy

Word History and Origins

Origin of piracy¹

C16: from Anglo-Latin pirātia, from Late Greek peirāteia; see pirate

Example Sentences

Much of the piracy appears to be coming from the US and India.

From Quartz

With governments preoccupied by the public health crisis, they’ve had fewer resources to devote to combating piracy.

From Ozy

It was not designed to deal with piracy at the scale that was about to erupt.

From MIT Technology Review

The most common technique to limit piracy is by adding watermarks that help trace which customer originally received the movie.

From Fortune

For years, piracy attacks on major shipping routes have been on a decline.

From Ozy

The record business is 98 percent piracy everywhere on the planet.

From The Daily Beast

As with any new device, fears came up about privacy, security, the fear of looking like a dork, and piracy.

From The Daily Beast

This also an area known for piracy, which means that military radar surveillance would have been highly active.

From The Daily Beast

First charged with “piracy,” each member of the retinue now faces seven years in jail if found guilty of “hooliganism.”

From The Daily Beast

Piracy has transformed into a well-developed business and I am part of that business.

From The Daily Beast

William Kidd with others executed at Execution dock, London, for piracy.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the beginning of a policy which was to put an end to the piracy which had prevailed for centuries on those waters.

From Project Gutenberg

If you give me those documents, I will show them to the Captain—but he is not the sort of man—this is mere piracy, after all!

From Project Gutenberg

When the victim of Algerian piracy stood on the deck, dripping and indignant, and told his tale of woe, we were delighted.

From Project Gutenberg

He used to make voyages from port to port, partly for commerce, but more especially for piracy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• copying
• hijacking
• infringement
• plagiarism
• theft