To plagiarize is to take someone else's words or ideas and put them in your own work as though you had thought of them yourself. The key is the missing credit, not the copying.

To plagiarizeplagiarize is to take someone else's words or ideas是把別人的文字或想法拿來，and put them in your own work放進自己的作品裡，as though you had thought of them yourself好像那是你自己想出來的。The key is關鍵在於 the missing credit沒有註明出處，not the copying不是「抄」這個動作本身。

Quoting a whole paragraph is fine if you say where it came from; using one clever idea without saying whose it was is plagiarism. It applies to essays, research papers, news articles, songs, code, designs — anywhere work is supposed to be yours.

Quoting a whole paragraph is fine引用整段是可以的，if you say where it came from只要你說明出處；using one clever idea without saying whose it was用了一個聰明的點子卻沒說是誰的 is plagiarism就是plagiarism。It applies to這適用於 essays, research papers, news articles, songs, code, designs論文、研究報告、新聞報導、歌曲、程式碼、設計——anywhere work is supposed to be yours任何應該是你自己作品的地方。

This is a serious accusation in English-speaking universities, much heavier than the tone Taiwanese students sometimes expect. A student who plagiarizes can fail the course or be expelled, and a journalist who plagiarizes usually loses their job.

This is a serious accusation這是很嚴重的指控 in English-speaking universities在英語系國家的大學裡，much heavier than the tone Taiwanese students sometimes expect比台灣學生有時候以為的重很多。A student who plagiarizes抄襲的學生 can fail the course or be expelled可能被當掉這門課，或被退學，and a journalist who plagiarizes抄襲的記者 usually loses their job通常會丟工作。

So use the word carefully: saying someone plagiarized is close to calling them dishonest, not merely lazy. The related noun is 'plagiarism' (the act) and the person is 'a plagiarist'.

So use the word carefully所以用這個字要小心：saying someone plagiarized說某人plagiarized is close to calling them dishonest幾乎等於說他不誠實，not merely lazy而不只是懶惰。The related noun is 'plagiarism' (the act)相關的名詞是「plagiarism」（這個行為），and the person is 'a plagiarist'做這件事的人是「a plagiarist」。

British writing usually spells the verb 'plagiarise', American 'plagiarize'; both are the same word and Taiwan's textbooks generally follow the American -ize. Note that it works both ways round: you plagiarize a person, and you also plagiarize the thing you took ('he plagiarized my essay').

British writing usually spells the verb英式寫法通常把動詞拼成 'plagiarise'「plagiarise」，American 'plagiarize'美式拼成「plagiarize」；both are the same word兩個是同一個字，and Taiwan's textbooks generally follow the American -ize台灣的教科書大致跟隨美式的-ize。Note that it works both ways round要注意這個字兩個方向都能用：you plagiarize a person你可以plagiarize一個人，and you also plagiarize the thing you took也可以plagiarize你拿走的那個東西 ('he plagiarized my essay')（「他plagiarized了我的文章」）。