The Conversation | Wikimedia
As a term describing literary, artistic or intellectual theft, “plagiarism” is derived from one of the epigrams of the ancient Roman poet Martial (above)…. The Latin word for “kidnapper” Martial uses is plagiario, which gives us the English term “plagiarism”. Other Roman writers, like Cicero, already familiar with the phenomenon of literary theft, used different terms like furtum (a trick) and surripio (taking something secretly), which cover a range of connotations…. Hegel was right: plagiarism has to be a matter of honour. But we live in dishonourable times.