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

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

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026

Instead, in a sign of the times that seems impossibly quaint in the harsh light of 2026, she issued a somber mea culpa.

From Slate ● May 6, 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

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

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

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

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 Saunders, T. Bailey (Thomas Bailey)

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

From The Castle Inn by Weyman, Stanley John