plagiarius

Forms

plagiārius m (genitive plagiāriī or plagiārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from plagium “kidnapping” with the suffix -ārius.^[2][1] The TLL derives it from plaga “net”, like ⟨rētiārius⟩, first meaning one who sets nets to catch.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC, and Cicero calls Licinius a plagiārius exacting tribute.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a kidnapper, one who stole others' slaves or bought or sold a free man as a slave, as in Cicero.^[2][6] Lewis and Short render it a torturer, oppressor, plunderer.^[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a kidnapper, robber.^[7] It was borrowed into French plagiaire and Italian plagiario, and English plagiarism is recorded from the 1620s.^[1][8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Licinius.^[5][4]
• 1620s – English plagiarism is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kidnapper; an oppressor.^[2][5]

Word family

• plagiāria

Related words

• plagium
• plaga
• English plagiarism
• English plagiary

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com