Meaning

noun hijacking on the high seas or in similar contexts; taking a ship or plane away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it

noun the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own

originFrom 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…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0