mea culpa

noun

mea cul·​pa ˌmā-ə-ˈku̇l-pə How to pronounce mea culpa (audio)
ˌmā-ä-,
-ˈku̇l-(ˌ)pä
: a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error
The mayor's public mea culpa didn't satisfy his critics.

Did you know?

Mea culpa, which means "through my fault" in Latin, comes from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church. Said by itself, it's an exclamation of apology or remorse that is used to mean "It was my fault" or "I apologize." Mea culpa is also a noun, however. A newspaper might issue a mea culpa for printing inaccurate information, or a politician might give a speech making mea culpas for past wrongdoings. Mea culpa is one of many English terms that derive from the Latin culpa, meaning "guilt." Some other examples are culpable ("meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful"), culprit ("one guilty of a crime or a fault"), and exculpate ("to clear from alleged fault or guilt").

Examples of mea culpa in a Sentence

The mayor's public mea culpa didn't satisfy his critics.
Recent Examples on the Web Unlike so many volumes written since 2016, this is not a tell-all about Donald Trump’s presidency or a mea culpa from a staffer from his administration. Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 3 Mar. 2024 The Giving Pies, a fixture in San Jose’s Willow Glen district, has become a small-business David going up against a corporate Goliath that now appears to have shifted gears into full mea culpa mode after the tech titan’s order cancellation that left the local merchant in a financial squeeze. George Avalos, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2024 Bryant settled with his accuser in civil court and issued a public mea culpa. Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2024 Carlos Santana is offering a mea culpa after coming under fire for making bizarre mid-concert anti-trans comments. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 25 Aug. 2023 Finally, on Monday, Ward published a mea culpa on Medium and announced Carta was shutting down its secondary private shares trading business to restore trust. Hank Tucker, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 Jimmy Fallon is offering a mea culpa to his staff after reports of toxic workplace behavior surfaced Thursday. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2023 Collins’s tardy mea culpa is welcome, and so too was the testimony last month of Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, during the country’s independent public inquiry into its Covid response. John Fund, National Review, 4 Jan. 2024 In her resignation letter, Claudine Gay offers no mea culpa and fails to even address the specific accusations against her. The Editors, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mea culpa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin, through my fault

First Known Use

1602, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mea culpa was in 1602

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Cite this Entry

“Mea culpa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mea%20culpa. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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