culprit
noun/ˈkʌlpɹɪt/
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”).
1
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.
- Another sits beneath the purple canopy—a lady, but alone. The diadem is on her cold and haughty brow; there is no pity in her stern aspect, and the smile on her lip bodes death. Before her stands the lovely culprit, whose fatal beauty, and still more fatal love, are about to be dearly requited.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 145:
2 more examples
- Railway police are making a full investigation into the matter, and the headmasters of schools have been approached, but it is difficult in such cases to discover the culprits, unless they are caught red-handed.1960 May 23, “Wanton Damage in Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 300:
- But the Dutch dominated only to waste numerous efforts, with Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie the main culprits.2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:
- Derived terms
- nonculprit