culpa

American  

[kuhl-puh, kool-pah] / ˈkʌl pə, ˈkʊl pɑ /

noun

• culpae
  plural

1. Roman and Civil Law. negligence; neglect (distinguished from dolus).

   One is not always liable before law for culpa resulting in damages.

2. guilt; sin.

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culpa British  

/ ˈkʊlpɑː /

noun

1. civil law an act of neglect

2. a fault; sin; guilt

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• culpae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of culpa

1250–1300; Old English < Latin: fault, liability, blame

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

culpa culpae

We’ve already done one mea culpa this week and don’t want to set ourselves up for another, but: This is supremely unlikely, for basically every reason.

From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026

After I published a mea culpa, I never believed anyone would care.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026

There’s a lot more to say, but this time, it’s about Carlson’s too-little, too-late mea culpa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

"Normally, when presidents realise they are angering the public, they pull back and have some kind of mea culpa," Rowland said.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026

Not only did she have to deliver the biggest mea culpa in NASA's history, every second of it would be remembered forever.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

What followed was Khosrowshahi’s meticulous strategy, involving public mea culpae, governance changes, software overhauls, reworked safety and crime protocols, and political diplomacy.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2018

And I do not think I can stand by any longer--which might be adaerere culpae.

From The Castle Inn by Stanley John Weyman

De culpâ, he adds, is the same as culpae; so in the ii.

From Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War by John Selby Watson

Thus the evil of the penalty accords with the evil of the sin—malum poenae with malum culpae.

From The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; On Human Nature by T. Bailey (Thomas Bailey) Saunders