piracy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun hijacking on the high seas or in similar contexts; taking a ship or plane away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it
    buccaneering.
    • air piracy
  2. noun the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own
    plagiarization; plagiarism; plagiarisation.

WordNet

Pi"ra*cy noun
Etymology
Cf. LL. piratia, Gr. . See Pirate.
Wordforms
plural Piracies
Definitions
  1. The act or crime of a pirate.
  2. (Common Law) Robbery on the high seas; the taking of property from others on the open sea by open violence; without lawful authority, and with intent to steal; -- a crime answering to robbery on land. air piracy -- to commandeer or hijack an airplane ✍ By statute law several other offenses committed on the seas (as trading with known pirates, or engaging in the slave trade) have been made piracy.
  3. "Sometimes used, in a quasi-figurative sense, of violation of copyright; but for this, infringement is the correct and preferable term." Abbott.

Webster 1913