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

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Etymology

Origin of culpa

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

culpa culpae

“Hundreds of people on your professional team, as well as countless friends… no one warned you?” posted one follower, Jamie M. Timbre, in a reply to her Instagram mea culpa.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

I think “Campo de Encino” is an admission of guilt, in a way — a kind of mea culpa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

The French UN mission apologized in September for the critique, a mea culpa that was well-received by Washington and cleared the way for Lechevallier's appointment.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

There was no accountability, no apology, no mea culpa.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 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

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

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

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