pirated

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of pirate.

   Counterfeiters pirated thousands of DVDs before the studio took action.

   Her novel was pirated and sold cheaply across several markets.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: past tense (they pirated the film) and participle (the film was pirated). It carries every meaning of the verb, including plundering at sea, making or selling unauthorized copies, and knowingly acquiring one. In the Philippines it can also mean luring an employee away from a competitor. Placed before a noun, the participle settles into the adjective for illicit copies.

2. 2
   adjective

   Reproduced or distributed without legal permission from the copyright owner.

   Customs officers seized a shipment of pirated DVDs at the border.

   The company lost millions because pirated versions circulated freely online.

   Similarpirate

   Oppositegenuine, legitimate, licensed, authentic

   Note

   It works as an either-or adjective: a book is pirated or it is not, so the word is not graded with very or more. Pirate itself can fill the same slot before a noun. Pirated, being a participle, keeps the sense that copying was done to the thing, as in a pirated book.

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