plagiarism
noun
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Common Misspellings
plagarism, plagerism, plagirism
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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.
Examples of plagiarism in a Sentence
Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 8 Jan. 2025
President-elect Trump on Wednesday nominated Monica Crowley, a former Fox News contributor who faced public scrutiny during Trump’s first term over allegations of plagiarism, for a top public relations post in the State Department.
—Laura Kelly, The Hill, 4 Dec. 2024
Following the plagiarism accusations over the summer, Perplexity made some publisher deals, offering ad revenue and free subscriptions to partners that include Fortune, Time, and The Texas Tribune.
—Wes Davis, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2024
His advocacy campaign to remove Harvard’s then-president over plagiarism allegations ricocheted this year to Oxman apologizing for citation errors in her own PhD dissertation.
—Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for plagiarism 
Dictionary Entries Near plagiarism
Cite this Entry
“Plagiarism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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