culprit
a person who has done something wrong
TRANSLATION
culprit = der/die Schuldige --- GOOGLE INDEX culprit: approximately 23,700,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The Daily Telegraph says the real CULPRIT was the European Commission, which failed to put forward any realistic proposals to trim spending.
(BBC News)
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But if you will only have the patience to listen to my tale, you shall know who is the real CULPRIT.
(The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang)
(BBC News)
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But if you will only have the patience to listen to my tale, you shall know who is the real CULPRIT.
(The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang)
Did you
know?
culprit
noun
— a person who is responsible for a crime or other misdeed
— the cause of a problem or defect
(Oxford English Dictionaries)
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Under English law, a culprit is officially the "prisoner at the bar" or the one accused of a crime. In the late 17th century, when an accused was brought before the bar claiming to be not guilty, the Clerk of the Crown said, "Culprit, how will you be tried?" The formula in answer to a plea of "not guilty," is first found in the trial for murder of the 7th Earl of Pembroke in 1678.
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that culprit stemmed from a misinterpretation of "cul. prist," a written abbreviation of the Anglo-Norman French term abbreviation of culpable (guilty) + prest (ready), which indicated that the bar was ready to prove its case and was convinced of the defendant's guilt. This use was probably influenced by the Latin "culpa," meaning fault or blame.
Culpa is also used in the Latin phrase "mea culpa," which essentially means "it's my fault." The origin of the expression is from a prayer of confession of sinfulness used in the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church known as Confiteor (Latin for "I confess"), of which the first evidence dates from shortly before 1100. The phrase "mea culpa" appears in the prayer from the 16th century.
While one might still hear the expression mea culpa, younger generations have adopted the popular phrase "my bad" when they have done something they believe is their own fault. This American street slang originated in the 1970s and is thought to come from street basketball.
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SYNONYMS
criminal, guilty party, malefactor, miscreant, offender, rascal, sinner, transgressor, wrongdoer
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I'd like to find the culprit who stole my favourite tea cup!"
noun
— a person who is responsible for a crime or other misdeed
— the cause of a problem or defect
(Oxford English Dictionaries)
---
Under English law, a culprit is officially the "prisoner at the bar" or the one accused of a crime. In the late 17th century, when an accused was brought before the bar claiming to be not guilty, the Clerk of the Crown said, "Culprit, how will you be tried?" The formula in answer to a plea of "not guilty," is first found in the trial for murder of the 7th Earl of Pembroke in 1678.
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that culprit stemmed from a misinterpretation of "cul. prist," a written abbreviation of the Anglo-Norman French term abbreviation of culpable (guilty) + prest (ready), which indicated that the bar was ready to prove its case and was convinced of the defendant's guilt. This use was probably influenced by the Latin "culpa," meaning fault or blame.
Culpa is also used in the Latin phrase "mea culpa," which essentially means "it's my fault." The origin of the expression is from a prayer of confession of sinfulness used in the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church known as Confiteor (Latin for "I confess"), of which the first evidence dates from shortly before 1100. The phrase "mea culpa" appears in the prayer from the 16th century.
While one might still hear the expression mea culpa, younger generations have adopted the popular phrase "my bad" when they have done something they believe is their own fault. This American street slang originated in the 1970s and is thought to come from street basketball.
---
SYNONYMS
criminal, guilty party, malefactor, miscreant, offender, rascal, sinner, transgressor, wrongdoer
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I'd like to find the culprit who stole my favourite tea cup!"
