Culpability
/ˌkʌl.pəˈbɪl.ə.ti/noun
The state of being deserving of blame or responsibility for a fault or offense.
Did you know?Culpability ultimately comes from Latin culpa, meaning “fault” or “blame,” a word that also lies behind the legal-sounding culprit, originally a shorthand for “taken in the act of fault.”
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Lat
culpa
“fault, blame, guilt”
Late Latin
LLat
culpabilis
“blameworthy, deserving of censure”
Old French
OF
culpable
“blameworthy, guilty”
Middle English
ME
culpable
“deserving blame or punishment”
14th–15th Century
English
culpabilite
“blameworthiness; liability to blame”
Modern English
English
culpability
“the state of being blameworthy or responsible for a fault”