piracy

noun pi·ra·cy \ ˈpī-rə-sē \

plural piracies

1 : an act of robbery on the high seas; also : an act resembling such robbery

2 : robbery on the high seas

3 a : the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright

b : the illicit accessing of broadcast signals

See piracy defined for English-language learners

See piracy defined for kids

Examples of piracy in a Sentence

piracy on the high seas
many countries have harsh penalties for piracy now

Recent Examples of piracy from the Web

Uncrewed vessels might be more vulnerable to piracy or even outright theft via remote hacking of a ship's control systems.

— matt o'brien, chicagotribune.com, "The next race for autonomous vehicles? Self-driving boats," 13 Sep. 2017
Both content companies and the US government have pursued increasingly aggressive anti-piracy strategies.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "How four Microsoft engineers proved that the “darknet” would defeat DRM," 24 Nov. 2017
Plaintiffs are invoking the 1789 Alien Tort Statute, which was intended to punish piracy and injuries to ambassadors and rarely invoked for nearly two centuries.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Alien Torts Unlimited," 10 Oct. 2017
But the downside of limiting distribution to a tiny fraction of potential viewers in the Internet age is piracy.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "New ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Series Boldly Goes Up Most Pirated List," 26 Sep. 2017
This more open, moderately decentralized system, however, comes with major piracy and security problems.

— cyrus nemati, Slate Magazine, "iPhone Gamers, Brace Yourselves for the App-ocalypse," 24 July 2017
This report continues the turnaround for the Latin market in the U.S., which saw its first revenue growth in the U.S. in 2016 in more than a decade, with the RIAA largely blaming piracy for the 12-year decline.

— dan rys, Billboard, "U.S. Latin Music Revenues Up 44 Percent In First Half of 2017," 25 Oct. 2017
Unfortunately, what’s being described sounds a whole lot like piracy.

— lynsey g., Glamour, "Free Porn Is Probably Not Feminist Porn—No Matter What It Looks Like," 25 Sep. 2017
Technology giant Microsoft is examining years of Louisville’s software usage, according to city officials, over a piracy dispute that could result in hefty fines.

— phillip m. bailey, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville could face fines and legal action in software piracy dispute with Microsoft," 25 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'piracy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of piracy

Medieval Latin piratia, from Late Greek peirateia, from Greek peiratēs pirate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1537

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

piracy Synonyms

Synonyms

pirating;

privateering;

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

PIRACY Defined for English Language Learners

piracy

noun

: the act of attacking and stealing from a ship at sea
: the act of illegally copying someone's product or invention without permission
: the act of illegally making television or radio broadcasts

PIRACY Defined for Kids

piracy

noun pi·ra·cy \ ˈpī-rə-sē \

plural piracies

1 : robbery of a ship at sea

2 : the use of another's work or invention without permission

Law Dictionary

piracy

noun pi·ra·cy \ ˈpī-rə-sē \

plural piracies

1 : an act of robbery especially on the high seas; specifically : an illegal act of violence, detention, or plunder committed for private ends by crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft against another ship or aircraft on the high seas or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state — see also air piracy

2 a : the unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of another's production (as a film) especially in infringement of a copyright

software piracy

b : the unauthorized use, interception, or receipt of encoded communications (as satellite cable programming) especially to avoid paying fees for use

the statute's purpose is to proscribe the piracy of programming signals
—United States v. Harrell, 983 F.2d 36 (1993)

3 : the crime of committing piracy

Learn More about piracy

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for piracy Spanish Central: Translation of piracy Nglish: Translation of piracy for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of piracy for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about piracy

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PIRACY Defined for English Language Learners

piracy

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