industrial espionage

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

industrial espionage (uncountable)

2. (espionage) The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage.
   • 1899 April 29, “What Our Consuls are Doing for American Trade”, in Scientific American, page 261:

     The American Consul at Leipzig requested the Chamber of Commerce of that city to furnish him with certain information concerning the preparation of rabbit’s skin for the hat trade. The Chamber replied that, although it was desirous of promoting the trade of Germany with foreign countries, it must, as a matter of principle, decline to furnish technical reports on German manufactures that would be likely to assist foreign competitors. The Leipziger Faerber Zeitung published the following, headed “Unfair Competition & Industrial Espionage" by the Consuls of the United States.”

3. Spying by an employer on labor union activities of employees and on labor unions. [ca. 1920—1960]
4. Spying on industrial activities for military advantage. [from c 1935]

Translations

use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage

• Arabic: تَجَسُّس صِنَاعِيّ m (tajassus ṣināʕiyy)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 商業間諜活動／商业间谍活动 (shāngyè jiàndié huódòng), 工業間諜活動／工业间谍活动 (gōngyè jiàndié huódòng), 商业间谍活动 (gōngyè jiàndié huódòng)

• Czech: průmyslová špionáž f
• Danish: industrispionage
• Dutch: bedrijfsspionage (nl)
• Esperanto: industria spionado
• Estonian: tööstusspionaaž
• Finnish: teollisuusvakoilu
• French: espionnage industriel (fr) m
• German: Wirtschaftsspionage (de) f
• Greek: βιομηχανική κατασκοπεία (viomichanikí kataskopeía)
• Hebrew: ריגול תעשייתי
• Hungarian: ipari kémkedés (hu)
• Italian: spionaggio industriale m
• Japanese: 産業スパイ (ja) (sangyō supai)
• Korean: 산업 스파이 (saneop seupai)
• Lithuanian: ekonominė žvalgyba
• Malay: pengintipan industri, pengintipan perindustrian, espionaj industri, espionaj perindustrian
• Norwegian: industrispionasje m
• Persian: جاسوسی صنعتی (jâsusi-ye san'ati)
• Polish: wywiad gospodarczy m
• Portuguese: espionagem industrial f
• Romanian: spionaj industrial, spionaj economic
• Russian: промы́шленный шпиона́ж (ru) m (promýšlennyj špionáž)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: industrijska špijunaža

• Spanish: espionaje industrial (es) m
• Swedish: industrispionage (sv) n
• Thai: จารกรรมทางอุตสาหกรรม (jaa-rá-gam taang ùt-sǎa-hà-gam)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: промислове шпигунство (promyslove špyhunstvo)
• Vietnamese: tình báo kinh tế

See also

• trade secret

Further reading

• industrial espionage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “industrial espionage”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.