plagiarize

play

verb pla·gia·rize \ˈplā-jə-ˌrīz also -jē-ə-\

Definition of plagiarize

plagiarized

;

plagiarizing

transitive verb
: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source
intransitive verb
: to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

plagiarizer

noun

See plagiarize defined for English-language learners

See plagiarize defined for kids

Examples of plagiarize in a Sentence

He plagiarized a classmate's report.
She plagiarized from an article she read on the Internet.

Recent Examples of plagiarize from the Web

Monica Crowley, selected as deputy national security adviser, withdrew after it was revealed that much of her past writing was plagiarized.

— paul krugman, New York Times, "Donald the Unready", 20 Jan. 2017
The Islamic State virtually plagiarized the idea from Inspire, the English-language magazine of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is aimed specifically at audiences in the West.

— robin wright, The New Yorker, "The Berlin Attack Is Right Out of the Terror Handbooks", 20 Dec. 2016
The group formed in 2011, when Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg—who was touted as a possible successor to Chancellor Merkel—was accused of plagiarizing parts of his doctoral thesis.

— tom fairless, WSJ, "Doctor Who? Germans Wage Vigilante Campaign Against Fake Ph.D.s", 16 Nov. 2016
Melissa Molomo, who Instagrams affirmations at the handle @MissSayWhatsReal, has reportedly issued the letter to Hailey for allegedly plagiarizing her work.

— ella ceron, Teen Vogue, "Hailey Baldwin Accused of Plagiarism by Writer of Instagram Quote", 20 Sep. 2016
There are software detection tools that can inform teachers when someone is plagiarizing.

— nate cohn and toni monkovic, New York Times, "Melania Trump, and How Much Do Conventions Really Matter?", 20 July 2016
In a case of meta-plagiarism, that paper had been plagiarized from a study about dogs and rats, even though the data was supposed to be about people.

— diana bruk, Esquire, "You'd Probably Be Surprised by This Booming Russian Black Market", 24 May 2016
The article ran under the byline Edward Clarkin and appeared to use fabricated quotes and plagiarized passages.

— sydney ember, New York Times, "A Publisher Puzzles Staff With His Role in Las Vegas", 6 Jan. 2016
Didn't John Fogerty also perform live in court when he was accused of plagiarizing himself?

— john hendrickson, Esquire, "Why Marvin Gaye's Family Will Probably Lose the 'Blurred Lines' Case to Robin Thicke", 4 Mar. 2015

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

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.