Skip to main content
Find a Lawyer
Please enter a legal issue and/or a location
Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select
FindLaw Legal Dictionary

The FindLaw Legal Dictionary -- free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries.

term:

Plagiarize

plagiarize vb

-rized
-riz·ing
[from plagiary plagiarist, from Latin plagiarius, literally, kidnapper, from plagium netting of game, kidnapping, from plaga net]
vt
: to copy and pass off (the expression of ideas or words of another) as one's own
: use (another's work) without crediting the source [the book contained plagiarized material "Smith v. Little, Brown & Co., 265 F. Supp. 451 (1965)"]
vi
: to present as new and original an idea or work derived from an existing source
pla·gia·rism [-ri-zəm]
n

pla·gia·rist [-rist]
n



Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Copied to clipboard

Find a Lawyer

More Options