culprit
/ˈkʌlpɹɪt/ noun
Forms culprits
- noun The person or thing at fault for a problem or crime. “I have tightened the loose bolt that was the culprit; it should work now.”
- noun (UK, law) A prisoner accused but not yet tried.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman cul. prit, contraction of culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) 'guilty: ready (to prove our case)', words used by prosecutor in opening a trial, mistaken in English for an address to the defendant. See culpable. It may have been influenced by Latin culpa (“blame, fault”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One accused of, or ar An author is in the condition of a culprit; the public are his judges. Prior.
- noun One quilty of a fault; a criminal.
Etymology [Prob. corrupted for culpate, fr. Law Latin culpatus the accused, p. p. of L. culpare to blame. See Culpable.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “culprit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details