noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈkɒpiˌɹaɪt/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
homophone: copywrite
rhymes with -aɪt
CMU ARPABET:K AA1 P IY0 R AY2 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The right by law to be the entity which determines who may publish, copy and distribute a piece of writing, music, picture or other work of authorship.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
Copyright is a separate legal area from trademarks.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Such an exclusive right as it pertains to one or more specific works.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, usually
Examples
The artist lost the copyrights to her songs when she signed the contract.
The images are still copyright of the original artist.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A violation of copyright law; copyright infringement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, nonstandard, uncountable, usually
Examples
no copyright intended
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To obtain or secure a copyright for some literary or other artistic work.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To flag for copyright violation, to copystrike.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, nonstandard, transitive
Examples
I won’t play this track, I don’t wanna get copyrighted.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: right of first publication
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: legal right, document, written document, papers
7
verb
Meaning 7
secure a copyright on a written work
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
did you copyright your manuscript?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: procure, secure
History
Etymology
From copy + right.
Across languages
Translations
122 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
e drejtë e autorit
— right to publish
Arabic:
حُقُوقُ النَّشْر
(ḥuqūqu n-našr)
— right to publish
Arabic:
حُقُوقُ التَّأْلِيفِ وَٱلنَّشْر
(ḥuqūqu t-taʔlīfi wa-n-našr)
— right to publish
Armenian:
հեղինակային իրավունք
(heġinakayin iravunkʻ)
— right to publish
Azerbaijani:
müəllif hüququ
— right to publish
Belarusian:
а́ўтарскае пра́ва
(áwtarskaje práva)
— right to publish
Bulgarian:
а́вторско пра́во
(ávtorsko právo)
— right to publish
Burmese:
မူပိုင်
(mupuing)
— right to publish
Burmese:
မူပိုင်ခွင့်
(mupuinghkwang.)
— right to publish
Catalan:
drets d'autor
— right to publish
Chinese Cantonese:
版權 /版权
(baan2 kyun4)
— right to publish
Chinese:
版權 /版权
(zh-min-nan)
— right to publish
Chinese Mandarin:
版權 /版权
(bǎnquán)
— right to publish
Cornish:
gwir-brintya
— right to publish
Cornish:
gwirbryntyans
— right to publish
Cornish:
gwir-pryntya
— right to publish
Czech:
autorské právo
— right to publish
Czech:
copyright
— right to publish
Danish:
ophavsret
— right to publish
Dutch:
auteursrecht
— right to publish
Dutch:
copyright
— right to publish
Esperanto:
aŭtora rajto
— right to publish
Esperanto:
aŭtororajto
— right to publish
Esperanto:
kopirajto
— right to publish
Estonian:
autoriõigus
— right to publish
Finnish:
tekijänoikeus
— right to publish
Finnish:
copyright
— right to publish
French:
droit d'auteur
— right to publish
French:
copyright
— right to publish
Galician:
dereitos de autor
— right to publish
Georgian:
საავტორო უფლებები
(saavṭoro uplebebi)
— right to publish
German:
Urheberrecht
— right to publish
Greek:
δικαιώματα δημιουργού
(dikaiómata dimiourgoú)
— right to publish
Greek:
πνευματικά δικαιώματα
(pnevmatiká dikaiómata)
— right to publish
Hausa:
hakkin-mallaka
— right to publish
Hebrew:
זכיות יוצרים \ זְכֻיּוֹת יוֹצְרִים
(zkhuyót yotsrím)
— right to publish
Hindi:
कॉपीराइट
(kŏpīrāiṭ)
— right to publish
Hindi:
स्वत्वाधिकार
(svatvādhikār)
— right to publish
Hindi:
प्रकाशनाधिकार
(prakāśanādhikār)
— right to publish
Hindi:
प्रतिलिप्यधिकार
(pratilipyadhikār)
— right to publish
Hungarian:
szerzői jog
— right to publish
Icelandic:
höfundarréttur
— right to publish
Ido:
autoryuro
— right to publish
Indonesian:
hak cipta
— right to publish
Indonesian:
hak pengarang
— right to publish
Irish:
cóipcheart
— right to publish
Italian:
copyright
— right to publish
Italian:
diritto d'autore
— right to publish
Japanese:
版権
(hanken)
— right to publish
Japanese:
著作権
(chosakuken)
— right to publish
Kazakh:
авторлық құқық
(avtorlyq qūqyq)
— right to publish
Khmer:
រក្សាសិទ្ធិ
(rĕəʼksaa sətthiʼ)
— right to publish
Khmer:
សិទ្ធិអ្នកនិពន្ធ
(sətthiʼ nĕək nipŭən)
— right to publish
Korean:
저작권
(jeojakgwon)
— right to publish
Northern Kurdish:
mafê telîfê
— right to publish
Northern Kurdish:
kopîrayt
— right to publish
Kyrgyz:
автордук укук
(avtorduk ukuk)
— right to publish
Lao:
ລິຂະສິດ
(li kha sit)
— right to publish
Latvian:
autortiesības
— right to publish
Lithuanian:
autorinė teisė
— right to publish
Lithuanian:
autorių teisė
— right to publish
Luxembourgish:
Auteursrecht
— right to publish
Macedonian:
а́вторско пра́во
(ávtorsko právo)
— right to publish
Malay:
hak cipta
— right to publish
Malayalam:
പകർപ്പവകാശം
(pakaṟppavakāśaṁ)
— right to publish
Maltese:
dritt tal-awtur
— right to publish
Manx:
coip-chiart
— right to publish
Māori:
manatā
— right to publish
Māori:
manatārua
— right to publish
Mongolian:
зохиогчийн эрх
(zoxiogčiin erx)
— right to publish
Norwegian Bokmål:
opphavsrett
— right to publish
Norwegian Nynorsk:
opphavsrett
— right to publish
Pashto:
کاپي رايټ
— right to publish
Pashto:
د کاپي حق
— right to publish
Iranian Persian:
حَقِّ تَکْثیر
(haġġ-e taksir)
— right to publish
Iranian Persian:
حَقِّ نَشْر
(haġġ-e našr)
— right to publish
Iranian Persian:
کُپیرایْت
(kopi-râyt)
— right to publish
Polish:
prawo autorskie
— right to publish
Portuguese:
direitos autorais
— right to publish
Portuguese:
direitos de autor
— right to publish
Romanian:
drept de autor
— right to publish
Russian:
а́вторское пра́во
(ávtorskoje právo)
— right to publish
Scottish Gaelic:
dlighe-sgrìobhaidh
— right to publish
Serbo-Croatian:
ауторско право
— right to publish
Serbo-Croatian:
autorsko pravo
— right to publish
Slovak:
autorské právo
— right to publish
Slovene:
avtorske pravice
— right to publish
Spanish:
derechos de autor
— right to publish
Spanish:
derecho de autor
— right to publish
Spanish:
derecho de copia privada
— right to publish
Swahili:
hakimiliki
— right to publish
Swedish:
copyright
— right to publish
Swedish:
upphovsrätt
— right to publish
Swedish:
upphovsrättsskydd
— right to publish
Tagalog:
karapatang-akda
— right to publish
Tagalog:
karapatang-sipi
— right to publish
Tajik:
ҳаққи таксир
(haqq-i taksir)
— right to publish
Tajik:
ҳаққи нашр
(haqq-i našr)
— right to publish
Tatar:
авторлык хокукы
(avtorlıq xoquqı)
— right to publish
Thai:
ลิขสิทธิ์
(lík-kà-sìt)
— right to publish
Tigrinya:
መሰል ደራሲ
(mäsäl därasi)
— right to publish
Turkish:
telif hakkı
— right to publish
Turkmen:
awtorlyk hukugy
— right to publish
Ukrainian:
а́вторське пра́во
(ávtorsʹke právo)
— right to publish
Urdu:
کاپی رائِٹ
(kāpī rāiṭ)
— right to publish
Urdu:
حُقُوقِ نَقَل
(huqūq-i naqal)
— right to publish
Uzbek:
mualliflik huquqi
— right to publish
Vietnamese:
bản quyền
— right to publish
Welsh:
hawlfraint
— right to publish
Yakut:
ааптар бырааба
(aaptar bïraaba)
— right to publish
Zhuang:
banjgienz
— right to publish
Dutch:
onder auteursrecht plaatsen
— place under a copyright
Finnish:
suojata tekijänoikeudella
— place under a copyright
French:
copyrighter
— place under a copyright
Greek:
κατοχυρώνω
(katochyróno)
— place under a copyright
Italian:
porre sotto copyright
— place under a copyright
Italian:
tutelare i diritti d'autore
— place under a copyright
Italian:
tutelare i copyright
— place under a copyright
Slovene:
avtorsko zaščititi
— place under a copyright
Spanish:
registrar derechos de autor
— place under a copyright
Swedish:
upphovsrättsskydda
— place under a copyright