copyism

plural copyisms

1. archaiccountableuncountableA style based on slavish imitation, without character or originality.

   There is no genial infusion of the principles of design, no appeal to the imagination, no initiation into art as such, but only a dry, hard copyism of model drawings, line by line, and shade by shade.

   1854, Putnam's Monthly, volume 4, page 201

2. archaiccountableuncountableplagiarism

   Now, in charging an author, more particularly a poet, with copyism, the resemblance ought surely to be at least as marked as in the foregoing extract.

   1820, The Christian Observer, volume 18, page 227