# culprit

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkʌlpɹɪt/ · frequency rank #17,115

## Definitions
1. The person or thing at fault for a problem or crime.
2. A prisoner accused but not yet tried.

## 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”).

## Common misspellings (11)
`cculprit`, `cluprit`, `cullprit`, `culpirt`, `culpprit`, `culpritt`, `culprrit`, `culprti`, `culrpit`, `cuplrit`, `uclprit`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/culprit