Plagiary

//ˈpleɪdʒ(ɪ)əɹi// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The crime of literary theft; plagiarism. countable, uncountable

    "accounted Plagiary"

  2. 2
    A plagiarist. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "He [Ben Jonson] vvas not onely a profeſſed Imitator of Horace, but a learned Plagiary of all the others; you track him every vvhere in their Snovv: […]"

  3. 3
    A kidnapper. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Adjective
  1. 1
    plagiarizing archaic, not-comparable

    "The busy bee is his classical device, and the simile confesses and justifies his plundering propensities; but the plagiary poet who steals ideas is represented by another insect, […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
adoptionappropriationassumptionborrowingcounterfeitingderivation

Example

More examples

"Plagiarie had not its nativity with printing; but began in times when thefts were difficult, and the paucity of books ſcarce wanted that invention."

Etymology

From Latin plagiārius (“kidnapper, plagiarist”), from plagium (“kidnapping”), probably from plaga (“a net, snare, trap”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.