Plagiarism (noun)

1. The act of using someone else"s words, ideas, or work and presenting them as one"s own without giving proper credit.
2. The act of passing off someone else"s work as one"s own.

Origin:

The word plagiarism comes from the latin word plagiarius, which means "kidnapper" or "abductor" and it was used in ancient rome to describe someone who would steal another person"s work or slave.

Examples:

1. Plagiarism is considered a serious offense in academic circles.
2. The student was accused of plagiarism when he submitted a paper that was identical to one he had downloaded from the internet.
3. The politician was caught plagiarizing a speech from a historical figure.
4. The company"s reputation was damaged after it was found guilty of plagiarizing a competitor"s product design.
5. The author was accused of plagiarism when several passages from other books were found in their novel.