1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Plagiarism

PLAGIARISM, an appropriation or copying from the work of another, in literature or art, and the passing off of the same as original or without acknowledgment of the real authorship or source. The Lat. plagiarius meant a kidnapper, stealer or abductor of a slave or child though it is also used in the modern sense of a literary pilferer or purloiner by Martial (I. 53, 9). The word plagium is used in the Digest of the offence of kidnapping or abduction, and the ultimate source is probably to be found in plaga, net, snare, trap, cognate with Gr. πλέκειν, to weave, plait. The idea of plagiarism as a wrong is comparatively modern, and has grown up with the increasing sense of property in works of the intellect. (See Copyright.)