Plagiarise: Definition, Usage & How to Avoid It

Meaning 1：copy dishonestly (plagiarise)

plagiarise 🔊

/ˈpleɪdʒəraɪz/

to take someone else's work or ideas and pretend they are yours.

Plagiarise definition illustrated: student copying text from a webpage without citation, showing academic dishonesty.

copy dishonestly 🔊

➕

/ˈkɒpi dɪsˈɒnɪstli/

The act of using someone else's original work, ideas, or expressions without proper acknowledgment and presenting them as one's own.

📁 Category：School Education 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'plagiarius' meaning 'kidnapper', later extended to stealing the writings of another.

💡 Mnemonic

Think: A 'plague' of dishonesty begins to 'rise' when people plagiarise, spreading copied work like an epidemic.

📖 Example

He failed the course because he tried to plagiarise his entire essay from Wikipedia. 🔊 He failed the course because he attempted to copy his entire essay dishonestly from Wikipedia.

🔗 Collocations

plagiarise an article – to copy the text of an article without giving credit

plagiarise from a source – to dishonestly take material from a specific origin

plagiarise someone's work – to copy the creative output of another person

🔄 Synonyms

copy (v.) – to reproduce something exactly

steal (v.) – to take something without permission or right

crib (v.) – to copy another student's work illicitly (informal)

🚫 Antonyms

originate (v.) – to create or initiate something new

create (v.) – to bring something into existence through skill or imagination

cite (v.) – to quote or refer to a source with proper acknowledgment

🌱 Derivatives

plagiarism (n.) – the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own

plagiarist (n.) – a person who plagiarises

plagiariser (n.) – alternative spelling for a person who plagiarises

📖 Cultural Story

The term originates from the Latin word 'plagiarius', meaning a kidnapper or someone who abducts a child or slave. In the 1st century AD, the Roman poet Martial used it metaphorically to accuse another poet of 'kidnapping' his verses. This literary metaphor solidified the modern meaning of stealing intellectual property in the 17th century.