Etymology

plagiarize

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Today it means: 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. Full definition →

English 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 todayplagiarize

From plagiary + -ize, ultimately from Latin plagiare (“to kidnap, to abduct”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.