piracy
English · Thesaurus
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piracy
- /ˈpaɪɹəsi/
Where it comes from
From Medieval Latin pīrātia, from Classical Latin pīrāta + ia, or Ancient Greek πειρατεία (peirateía).
The sense of “unauthorized duplication” developed in England between 1660 and 1710. The English Crown granted strict monopolies over book printing to specific guilds, such as the Stationers’ Company. Printing a book without permission was framed as an unlawful attack on the Crown’s authority and revenues. By labeling rogue printers as “pirates”, authorized booksellers equated them with sea robbers operating outside the bounds of civilized society. By the passage of the Statute of Anne in 1710, this usage was deeply entrenched in public consciousness as the definitive descriptor for the unauthorized duplication of books, and was later applied seamlessly to new media as they emerged.
noun piracies · pyracy
-
Robbery at sea, a violation of international law; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it.
How should the international community respond to Somali piracy?
Similar: pirateship, buccaneerism
- A similar violation of international law, such as hijacking of an aircraft.
-
The unauthorized duplication of goods protected by intellectual property law.
Some video game consoles use specially designed cartridges to make software piracy more difficult.
Similar: bootlegging, file sharing
- The operation of an unlicensed radio or television station.
- Kleptoparasitism.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: buccaneering, plagiarization, plagiarisation, pirate, forgery, hack, hijacking, theft, copying, copyright, counterfeiting, hacking, tort, infringement, phenomenon, tortious
Translations
Every language
noun robbery at sea
| Español | piratería |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 해적 행위 haejeok haeng'wi, 해적질 haejeokjil |
| 日本語 | 海賊行為 kaizoku kōi, パイラシー pairashī |
| 中文 | 海盜行為 /海盗行为 hǎidào xíngwéi, 海盜 /海盗 hǎidào |
| Kiswahili | uharamia |
| Português | pirataria |
| Français | piraterie, piratage |
| Deutsch | Piraterie, Seeräuberei |
| Italiano | pirateria |
| Ελληνικά | πειρατεία peirateía |
| Русский | пира́тство pirátstvo |
| العربية | قَرْصَنَة qarṣana |
| עברית | שוד ים, שֹׁד יָמִּי, פִּירָטִיוּת piratiyut |
noun hijacking
| Español | piratería, secuestro |
|---|---|
| Kiswahili | uharamia |
| Italiano | pirateria |
| Ελληνικά | πειρατεία peirateía |
| עברית | פִּירָטִיוּת piratiyut |
noun unauthorized duplication
| Español | piratería, falsificación |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 著作権侵害 chosakuken shingai, パイラシー pairashī, 偽版 gihan, 海賊版 kaizokuban |
| 中文 | 著作權侵害 /著作权侵害 zhùzuòquán qīnhài, 盜版 /盗版 dàobǎn |
| Português | pirataria |
| Français | piratage |
| Deutsch | Raubkopieren, Raubkopie, Raubdruck |
| Italiano | pirateria |
| Ελληνικά | πειρατεία peirateía |
| Русский | пира́тство pirátstvo, наруше́ние а́вторского пра́ва narušénije ávtorskovo práva, контрафа́кция kontrafákcija, пира́тская ко́пия pirátskaja kópija |
| العربية | تَزْوِير tazwīr |
noun unlicensed broadcasting
| Ελληνικά | πειρατεία peirateía |
|---|
Talk about this word "piracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/piracy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. piracy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/piracy "piracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/piracy.Cite this
@misc{piracy_2026,
title = {piracy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/piracy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
