The Etymology of Plagiarism
Words often carry fascinating histories, and the word plagiarism is no exception. Most people are familiar with its common meaning: plagiarism refers to the act of taking someone else’s work, particularly their writing, and presenting it as one’s own. To plagiarise is to seek recognition for something that you did not create yourself. However, the etymology of the term reveals a deeper, more intriguing backstory.
The term plagiarism traces its roots to the Latin word plagiarius, which translates to kidnapper. This term itself derives from another Latin word, plagium, which means the act of kidnapping. Interestingly, plagium likely originates from the Latin term plaga, meaning a net or snare, the very tools used in the act of abduction.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, plagiarius is defined as: “a person who abducts the child or slave of another, kidnapper, seducer, also a literary thief.” This evolution in meaning—from a term that literally described the act of stealing someone else’s children to a broader interpretation encompassing all forms of theft—highlights the seriousness with which the Romans regarded literary theft. Although they lacked modern copyright laws, the Romans understood that appropriating someone else’s work and claiming it as your own was an affront.
This connection between plagiarism and child-theft is further supported by examining Latin literature. The poet Martial (AD 40-104), known for his sharp wit, often referred to dishonest writers as literary thieves or magpies. In one of his epigrams, he directly confronts a plagiarist from Cordova:
- Cordova, your store of rich olives is more
- Than even Venafrum can boast,
- You can vie with the best that are brought from Trieste
- Or the groves of the Istrian coast;
- Though Tarentum declare that her fleeces are fair
- And unrivalled in texture and tone,
- Yet they borrow their hue – but more honest are you
- And content to exhibit your own;
- So your fame you should guard by reproving your bard
- Who is stealing my verse. I confess
- That I should not much mind were his own of a kind
- That would give me a chance of redress!
- But a bachelor’s free from reprisals, if he
- Run away with your wife, for he’s not one,
- And ‘eye for an eye’ one can hardly apply
- To a culprit unless he has got one;
- So a robber may feel more incitement to steal
- When there’s nothing at all in his purse,
- And your poet obscure may be perfectly sure
- That no other will pilfer his verse.
Martial was not unique in being a target of literary theft; many writers of classical antiquity likely faced similar challenges. However, it is Martial who most thoroughly explored the subject of plagiarism, hence the term’s enduring association with his name.
The word plagiarism entered the English language as early as 1621, when Richard Montagu posed the question in his work Diatribæ upon the First Part of the Late History of Tithes: “Were you afraid to be challenged for plagiarisme?” Interestingly, the related term plagiary appeared slightly earlier, in 1598, as Joseph Hall referred to a “Plagiarie sonnet-wright”.
In the realm of lexicography, the term esquivalience, found in the New Oxford American Dictionary, was invented by one of the editors to catch out potential plagiarists. The idea was that if this unique word and its definition appeared in later dictionaries, it would indicate that subsequent lexicographers had borrowed from the earlier work.