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

"You didn't ask for all the flashing lights... I wish I knew the pain I caused," sings Madonna in a rare mea culpa.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

But at the very least, it deserves some kind of mea culpa from Becerra or lessons learned, a more robust conversation than the brush-off it’s been getting.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

I'm not blaming anyone for this state of affairs, mind you; nor merely crying mea culpa.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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