Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PI'RA-CY, n. [Fr. piraterie; L. piratica, from Gr. πειρατεια, from πειραω, to attempt, to dare, to enterprise, whence L. periculum, experior. The primary sense of the root is to run, rush or drive forward; allied to Sax. faran, Eng. to fare. Class Br.]

1. The act, practice or crime of robbing on the high seas; the taking of property from others by open violence and without authority, on the sea; a crime that answers to robbery on land. – Waller. Arbuthnot. Other acts than robbery on the high seas, are declared by statute to be piracy. See Act of Congress, April 30, 1790.
2. The robbing of another by taking his writings.