plagiarism
noun
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Common Misspellings
plagarism, plagerism, plagirism
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The Kidnapping Roots of Plagiarize
If schools wish to impress upon their students how serious an offense plagiarism is, they might start with an explanation of the word’s history. Plagiarize (and plagiarism) comes from the Latin plagiarius “kidnapper.” This word, derived from the Latin plaga (“a net used by hunters to catch game”), extended its meaning in Latin to include a person who stole the words, rather than the children, of another. When plagiarius first entered English in the form plagiary, it kept its original reference to kidnapping, a sense that is now quite obsolete.
Examples of plagiarism in a Sentence
Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 25 Mar. 2026
Physician David Agus, who teaches at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, held his ghostwriter responsible for the many instances of plagiarism that were identified in his popular science books.
—Emily Hodgson Anderson, The Conversation, 25 Mar. 2026
If, by our standard, that is glaring plagiarism, the obvious retort is that the standard of the early seventeenth century was a very different beast.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026
Chandraker emphasized the importance of establishing safety measures to prevent a proliferation of plagiarism or excess automation.
—Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for plagiarism
Cite this Entry
“Plagiarism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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