Main Entry:

¹blame

Pronunciation:

\ˈblām\

Function:

transitive verb

Inflected Form(s):

blamed; blam·ing

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French blamer, blasmer, from Late Latin blasphemare to blaspheme, from Greek blasphēmein

Date:

13th century

1: to find fault with : censure <the right to praise or blame a literary work>2 a: to hold responsible <they blame me for everything> b: to place responsibility for <blames it on me>

— blam·er noun

— to blame

: at fault : responsible <says he's not to blame for the accident>

usage Use of blame in sense 2b with on has occasionally been disparaged as wrong. Such disparagement is without basis; blame on occurs as frequently in carefully edited prose as blame for. Both are standard.