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We would be culpable—that is, deserving of blame—if we didn’t clearly explain the origin of culprit. Yes, it is related to culpable, which itself comes (via Middle English and Anglo-French) from the Latin verb culpare, meaning “to blame.” But the etymology of culprit is not so straightforward. In Anglo-French, culpable meant “guilty,” and this was abbreviated “cul.” in legal briefs and texts. Culprit was formed by combining this abbreviation with the Anglo-French word prest or prit, meaning “ready”; literally, a culprit was one who was ready to be proven guilty. The word was eventually adopted into English and used to refer to someone who is accused of a wrongdoing. The word has since taken on an additional meaning: “the source or cause of a problem.”
Examples of culprit in a Sentence
Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
The culprit: microscopic fungal spores that live in and on human bodies and in the dirt and air.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
One factor that requires further research is how viruses might affect another culprit of Alzheimer’s, the accumulation of amyloid-beta proteins that form plaque in grey matter (a tissue making up the brain’s outer layer).
—Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 2 May 2025
Stunning advances in genetic science have revealed the subtle, insidious culprits behind these brutal diseases and have started paving the way for treatments.
—Laura Ungar, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for culprit
Cite this Entry
“Culprit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culprit. Accessed 13 May. 2025.
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culprit
noun
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