Etymology

plagiarist

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Today it means: One who plagiarizes; or lifts the words, writings, or ideas of another, and passes them off as his or her own, thus engaging in plagiarism; a literary thief. Full definition →

First used 1670sEnglish plagiary ← Latin plagiārius ← Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pleḱ-
  3. Latinplagium
  4. Latinplagiārius
  5. Englishplagiary
  6. English todayplagiarist

From plagiary + -ist.

First known use, by meaning

  • 1670s One who plagiarizes; or lifts the words, writings, or ideas of another, and passes them off as his or her own, thus engaging in plagiarism; a literary thief.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.