PLAGIARIZE: Your word of the day from www.yourdictionary.com 3/12/2006
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Today's
Word: Plagiarize (Verb)
Pronunciation: ['pley-jê-rIz]
Definition 1: To copy and publish someone else’s ideas (text, art, music,
software, etc.) as one’s own; to attach one’s own name to something created by
someone else.
Usage 1: Today’s verb is based on the noun "plagiary," which once referred to
the person who plagiarizes. The noun from the verb is "plagiarism" and the
rotten person who plagiarizes, today is a plagiarist.
Suggested Usage: We shouldn’t joke about plagiarism; it is the ultimate
theft—the kidnapping of creative ideas (see Etymology). That said, do you know a
writer this might fit: "She has plagiarized so much from her contemporaries that
her work is sooner a survey of current literature than a contribution to it."
How about this: "The best of his latest book is those parts plagiarized from his
earlier works." (Can you plagiarize yourself? Share your thoughts in the Agora.)
Etymology: From Latin plagiarius "kidnapper" from plagium "kidnapping" derived
from plaga "net," apparently the preferred weapon of ancient kidnappers. "Plaga"
is probably related to PIE *plak- "flat," the origin of English "flake" and
"(liver) fluke." Greek plagos "side" is also a member of the extended family and
is behind the French word for beach, "plage." Nasalized, it appears in Latin
plancus "flat" which serves to name the flat piece of wood in English, a
"plank." (Thank you very much, Anne G. Kramer of Virginia Beach, for reminding
us of a social problem exacerbated by the Web and cut-and-paste. See our FAQ
sheet for more PIE.)
—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com
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