Meanings
plural piracies · alternative obsolete pyracy
- countableuncountablecrimenauticalRobbery at sea, a violation of international law; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it.
How should the international community respond to Somali piracy?
Synonyms: pirateship, buccaneerism
- countableuncountableThe unauthorized duplication of goods protected by intellectual property law.
Some video game consoles use specially designed cartridges to make software piracy more difficult.
Synonyms: bootlegging, file sharing
- countableuncountableThe operation of an unlicensed radio or television station.
- countableuncountablebiologyKleptoparasitism.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounRobbery at sea, a violation of international law; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it.
nounThe unauthorized duplication of goods protected by intellectual property law.
More synonyms by meaning
nounhijacking on the high seas or in similar contexts; taking a ship or plane away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it
nounthe act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπειρατεία
- Latinpīrāta
- Medieval Latinpīrātia
- Englishpiracy
From Medieval Latin pīrātia, from Classical Latin pīrāta + ia, or Ancient Greek πειρατεία (peirateía). The sense of “unauthorized duplication” developed in England between 1660 and 1710. The English Crown granted strict monopolies over book printing to specific guilds, such as the Stationers’ Company. Printing a book without permission was framed as an unlawful attack on the Crown’s authority and revenues. By labeling rogue printers as “pirates”, authorized booksellers equated them with sea robbers operating outside the bounds of civilized society. By the passage of the Statute of Anne in 1710, this usage was deeply entrenched in public consciousness as the definitive descriptor for the unauthorized duplication of books, and was later applied seamlessly to new media as they emerged.
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans seerowery
- seeroweryrobbery at sea
Arabic قَرْصَنَة, تَزْوِير
- قَرْصَنَة (qarṣana)robbery at sea
- تَزْوِير (tazwīr)unauthorized duplication
Bulgarian пиратство, плагиатство
- пиратство (piratstvo)robbery at sea
- плагиатство (plagiatstvo)unauthorized duplication
Catalan pirateria, pirateria
- pirateriarobbery at sea
- pirateriaunauthorized duplication
Chinese Cantonese 海盜行為 /海盗行为
- 海盜行為 /海盗行为 (hoi² dou⁶ haang⁴ wai⁴)robbery at sea
Chinese Mandarin 海盜行為 /海盗行为, 海盜 /海盗
- 海盜行為 /海盗行为 (hǎidào xíngwéi)robbery at sea
- 海盜 /海盗 (hǎidào)robbery at sea
- 著作權侵害 /著作权侵害 (zhùzuòquán qīnhài)unauthorized duplication
- 盜版 /盗版 (dàobǎn)unauthorized duplication
Czech pirátství
- pirátstvírobbery at sea
Danish pirateri, sørøveri
- piraterirobbery at sea
- sørøverirobbery at sea
- kapringhijacking
- piratkopieringunauthorized duplication
Dutch zeeroverij, piraterij
- zeeroverijrobbery at sea
- piraterijrobbery at sea
- kapingrobbery at sea
- kapinghijacking
- piraterijunauthorized duplication
- piraterijunlicensed broadcasting
- zendpiraterijunlicensed broadcasting
- etherpiraterijunlicensed broadcasting
Esperanto piratado
- piratadorobbery at sea
Finnish merirosvous, kaappaus
- merirosvousrobbery at sea
- kaappaushijacking
- piratismiunauthorized duplication
- piraattiradiotoimintaunlicensed broadcasting
French piraterie, piratage
- piraterierobbery at sea
- piratagerobbery at sea
- piratageunauthorized duplication
German Piraterie, Seeräuberei
- Piraterierobbery at sea
- Seeräubereirobbery at sea
- Raubkopierenunauthorized duplication
- Raubkopieunauthorized duplication
- Raubdruckunauthorized duplication
Greek πειρατεία, πειρατεία
- πειρατεία (peirateía)robbery at sea
- πειρατεία (peirateía)hijacking
- πειρατεία (peirateía)unauthorized duplication
- πειρατεία (peirateía)unlicensed broadcasting
Hebrew שוד ים, שֹׁד יָמִּי
- שוד יםrobbery at sea
- שֹׁד יָמִּיrobbery at sea
- פִּירָטִיוּת (piratiyut)robbery at sea
- פִּירָטִיוּת (piratiyut)hijacking
Hungarian kalózkodás, eltérítés
- kalózkodásrobbery at sea
- eltérítéshijacking
- kalózkodásunauthorized duplication
Indonesian pembajakan
- pembajakanunauthorized duplication
Italian pirateria, pirateria
- pirateriarobbery at sea
- pirateriahijacking
- pirateriaunauthorized duplication
Japanese 海賊行為, パイラシー
- 海賊行為 (kaizoku kōi)robbery at sea
- パイラシー (pairashī)robbery at sea
- 著作権侵害 (chosakuken shingai)unauthorized duplication
- パイラシー (pairashī)unauthorized duplication
- 偽版 (gihan)unauthorized duplication
- 海賊版 (kaizokuban)unauthorized duplication
Korean 해적 행위, 해적질
- 해적 행위 (haejeok haeng'wi)robbery at sea
- 해적질 (haejeokjil)robbery at sea
Latin pīrātica
- pīrāticarobbery at sea
Lithuanian piratavimas
- piratavimasrobbery at sea
Malay perlanunan
- perlanunanrobbery at sea
Norwegian kapring
- kapringhijacking
Polish piractwo, piractwo
- piractworobbery at sea
- piractwounauthorized duplication
Portuguese pirataria, pirataria
- piratariarobbery at sea
- piratariaunauthorized duplication
Punjabi ਕਜ਼ਾਕੀ
- ਕਜ਼ਾਕੀ (kazākī)robbery at sea
Russian пира́тство, пира́тство
- пира́тство (pirátstvo)robbery at sea
- пира́тство (pirátstvo)unauthorized duplication
- наруше́ние а́вторского пра́ва (narušénije ávtorskovo práva)unauthorized duplication
- контрафа́кция (kontrafákcija)unauthorized duplication
- пира́тская ко́пия (pirátskaja kópija)unauthorized duplication
Spanish piratería, piratería
- pirateríarobbery at sea
- pirateríahijacking
- secuestrohijacking
- pirateríaunauthorized duplication
- falsificaciónunauthorized duplication
Swahili uharamia, uharamia
- uharamiarobbery at sea
- uharamiahijacking
Swedish sjöröveri, piratkopiering
- sjöröverirobbery at sea
- piratkopieringunauthorized duplication
Tagalog pamimirata, pamimirata
- pamimiratarobbery at sea
- pamimirataunauthorized duplication
Tamil கடற்கொள்ளை
- கடற்கொள்ளை (kaṭaṟkoḷḷai)robbery at sea
Thai โจรกรรม
- โจรกรรม (joo-rá-gam)robbery at sea
Turkish korsanlık, korsanlık
- korsanlıkrobbery at sea
- korsanlıkunauthorized duplication
- korsan yayınunlicensed broadcasting
Ukrainian піратство, піра́тство
- піратство (piratstvo)robbery at sea
- піра́тство (pirátstvo)unauthorized duplication
Cite this entry
piracy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piracy
“piracy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piracy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “piracy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piracy.
Source: piracy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.