noun

(uncountable) The right by law to be the entity which determines who may publish, copy and distribute a piece of writing, music, picture or other work of authorship.

(countable) Such an exclusive right as it pertains to one or more specific works.

(uncountable, informal, nonstandard) A violation of copyright law; copyright infringement.

verb

(transitive, intransitive) To obtain or secure a copyright for some literary or other artistic work.

(transitive, informal, nonstandard) To flag for copyright violation, to copystrike.

Roots

copiacopy- · Latin · abundance, transcript rihtright- · Old English · legal entitlement

Synonyms & related words for copyright

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of copyright. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to copyright

Explore words related to copyright — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include copyrightable, infringement, rights, trademarks, infringing, infringer, infringed, republishing. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does copyright come from?

The word copyright breaks down into 2 roots of Latin and Old English origin: copy, from Latin copia (“abundance, transcript”); and right, from Old English riht (“legal entitlement”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.