Standard Lemma guide

plagiarism

noun · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpleɪd͡ʒəɹɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˈplæɪd͡ʒəɹɪzəm/
  • CMU ARPABET: P L EY1 JH ER0 IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Copying of another person's ideas, text, or other creative work, and presenting it as one's own, especially without permission; plagiarizing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Even if it's not illegal, plagiarism is usually frowned upon.
  • Copy from one, it's plagiarism. Copy from two, it's research.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Text or other work resulting from this act.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The novel was awash in plagiarism, with entire passages lifted verbatim.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The instance of plagiarism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: plagiarization, plagiarisation, piracy

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: copyright infringement, infringement of copyright

5

noun

Meaning 5

a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: writing, written material, piece of writing

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin plagium Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Latin plagiārius English plagiary Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English plagiarism From plagiary + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

93 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِنْتِحال (intiḥāl) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Armenian: գրագողություն (gragoġutʻyun) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Armenian: բանագողություն (banagoġutʻyun) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Belarusian: плагія́т (plahiját) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Bengali: কুম্ভীলকবৃত্তি (kumbhīlôkbritti) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Bulgarian: плагиа́тство (plagiátstvo) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Bulgarian: плагиа́т (plagiát) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Catalan: plagi — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese Cantonese: 剽竊 /剽窃 (piu3 sit3, piu5 sit3) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese Cantonese: 抄襲 /抄袭 (caau1 zaap6) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese: 偷抾 (thau-khioh) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese: 抄襲 /抄袭 (zh-min-nan) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese Mandarin: 剽竊 /剽窃 (piāoqiè, piàoqiè) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese Mandarin: 抄襲 /抄袭 (chāoxí) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Czech: plagiátorství — copying of someone's ideas
  • Czech: plagiát — copying of someone's ideas
  • Danish: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Dutch: plagiaat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Esperanto: plagiato — copying of someone's ideas
  • Estonian: plagiaat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Faroese: ritstuldur — copying of someone's ideas
  • Finnish: plagiointi — copying of someone's ideas
  • French: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Galician: plaxio — copying of someone's ideas
  • Georgian: პლაგიატი (ṗlagiaṭi) — copying of someone's ideas
  • German: Plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Greek: λογοκλοπή (logoklopí) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Icelandic: ritstuldur — copying of someone's ideas
  • Indonesian: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Indonesian: plagiarisme — copying of someone's ideas
  • Italian: plagio — copying of someone's ideas
  • Japanese: 剽窃 (hyōsetsu) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Japanese: 盗作 (tōsaku) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Japanese: パクリ (pakuri) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Kazakh: плагиат (plagiat) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Korean: 표절 (pyojeol) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Korean: 도작 (dojak) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Kyrgyz: плагиат (plagiat) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Latvian: plaģiāts — copying of someone's ideas
  • Lithuanian: plagiatas — copying of someone's ideas
  • Lithuanian: plagijavimas — copying of someone's ideas
  • Macedonian: плагијат (plagijat) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Malay: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Norwegian: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Occitan: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Persian: دستبرد فکری (dastbord-e fekri) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Polish: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Portuguese: plágio — copying of someone's ideas
  • Romanian: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Romanian: plagiere — copying of someone's ideas
  • Russian: плагиа́т (plagiát) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Serbo-Croatian: плагијат — copying of someone's ideas
  • Serbo-Croatian: plagijat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Slovak: plagiátorstvo — copying of someone's ideas
  • Slovak: plagiát — copying of someone's ideas
  • Slovene: plagiatorstvo — copying of someone's ideas
  • Slovene: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Spanish: plagio — copying of someone's ideas
  • Swedish: plagiering — copying of someone's ideas
  • Swedish: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Tagalog: nakaw-akda — copying of someone's ideas
  • Tagalog: plahiyo — copying of someone's ideas
  • Turkish: intihal — copying of someone's ideas
  • Turkish: arakasyon — copying of someone's ideas
  • Ottoman Turkish: انتحال (intihal) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Ottoman Turkish: سلخ (selh) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Ukrainian: плагіа́т (plahiát) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Urdu: ادبی سرقہ (adabī-sarqa) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Urdu: سرقہ (sarqa) — copying of someone's ideas
  • Uzbek: plagiat — copying of someone's ideas
  • Vietnamese: đạo văn — copying of someone's ideas
  • Chinese Mandarin: 剽竊物 /剽窃物 (piāoqièwù) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Chinese Mandarin: 抄襲物 /抄袭物 (chāoxíwù) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Czech: plagiát — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Finnish: plagiaatti — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • French: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • German: Plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Italian: copiatura — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Italian: imitazione — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Japanese: 剽窃 (hyōsetsu) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Japanese: 盗作 (tōsaku) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Norwegian: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Occitan: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Polish: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Portuguese: plágio — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Romanian: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Romanian: plagiere — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Russian: плагиа́т (plagiát) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Spanish: plagio — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Swedish: plagiat — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Swedish: plagiering — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Turkish: arakasyon — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized
  • Ottoman Turkish: سلخ (selh) — act of plagiarizing or something plagiarized