Where does “culprit” come from?

Culprit comes from Old French culpable, from Latin culpabilis meaning deserving blame, derived from Latin culpa meaning fault or blame, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kʷel-.

culprit (English): The person or thing at fault for a problem or...

Definitions

  1. The person or thing at fault for a problem or...

Ancestry of “culprit”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchculpable—
2Latinculpābilisblameworthy, culpable
3LatinculpoI blame
4Latinculpafault, defect; blame, guilt; crime
5Proto-Italickʷolpāmistake; fault
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷolp-eh₂bend, turn
7Proto-Indo-Europeankʷelp-to bend; to curve, arch
8Proto-Indo-Europeankʷel-to turn

Words derived from “culprit”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷel- →