verb · 2 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.
/ˈpleɪd͡ʒəɹaɪz/
/ˈpleɪd͡ʒi.əɹaɪz/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P L EY1 JH ER0 AY2 Z
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
verb
Meaning 1
To use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing, speech, ideas, or other intellectual or creative work, especially in an academic context; to commit plagiarism.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ambitransitive
Examples
She was caught trying to plagiarize an article for her thesis.
It’s unethical to plagiarize someone else’s work for personal gain.
Students should learn to write in their own words and avoid plagiarizing.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: plagiarise, lift
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: steal
Narrower terms: crib
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)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English plagiarize From plagiary + -ize, ultimately from Latin plagiare (“to kidnap, to abduct”).
Across languages
Translations
31 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
اِنْتَحَلَ
(intaḥala)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Bulgarian:
плагиатствам
(plagiatstvam)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Catalan:
plagiar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Chinese Mandarin:
剽竊 /剽窃
(piāoqiè)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Chinese Mandarin:
抄襲 /抄袭
(chāoxí)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Esperanto:
plagiati
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Finnish:
plagioida
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
French:
plagier
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Galician:
plaxiar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
German:
plagiieren
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
German:
geistigen Diebstahl begehen
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
German:
abkupfern
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
German:
guttenbergen
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Greek:
λογοκλοπώ
(logoklopó)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Gujarati:
સાહિત્યચોરવું
(sāhityacorvũ)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Ido:
plajiar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Irish:
bradaíl a dhéanamh
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Italian:
plagiare
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Māori:
whānako kōrero
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Māori:
tārua whānako
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Polish:
plagiatować
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Polish:
zrzynać
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Portuguese:
plagiar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Romanian:
plagia
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Russian:
занима́ться плагиа́том
(zanimátʹsja plagiátom)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Russian:
спи́сывать
(spísyvatʹ)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Russian:
списа́ть
(spisátʹ)
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Spanish:
plagiar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Spanish:
fusilar
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Swedish:
plagiera
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech
Welsh:
llên-ladrata
— use, and pass off as one's own, someone else's writing/speech