noun
piracy
PEYE-ruh-see
noun
1
Robbery or hijacking committed at sea against a ship not under the attacker's control.
"The cargo ship altered course to avoid waters known for piracy."
2
The unauthorized copying or distribution of material protected by copyright.
"The studio blamed falling DVD sales on online piracy."
"Software piracy costs developers billions each year."
How to Use Piracy
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither armed robbery at sea, or illegally copying and sharing copyrighted content.
Common pairings
software piracy
act of piracy
crack down on piracy
Word Forms
piracies plural
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Etymology
From Medieval Latin piratia, ultimately from Greek peirateia. English extended the word from actual sea robbery to unauthorized copying in the late 1600s, when the Crown's printing monopolies made unlicensed book printers seem like "pirates" attacking legitimate trade — a sense that later carried over naturally to music, film, and software.