culprit
American Heritage Dictionary:
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cul·prit
(kŭl'prĭt) 
n.
n.
- One charged with an offense or crime.
- One guilty of a fault or crime.
[Probably from cul. prit, abbreviation for Anglo-Norman *culpable: prit d'averrer nostre bille, guilty: (I am) ready to aver our indictment : culpable, guilty (from Latin culpābilis; see culpable) + *prit, ready (variant of prest , from Latin praestō; see presto).]
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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.
An individual who has been formally charged with a criminal offense but who has not yet been tried and convicted.
Culprit is a colloquial rather than a legal term and is commonly applied to someone who is guilty of a minor degree of moral reprehensibility. According to Sir William Blackstone, the term is most likely a derivative of the archaic mode of arraignment during which upon a prisoner's plea of not guilty the cleric would say culpabilis prit, meaning "he is guilty and the crown is ready." The more common derivation is from culpa, meaning "fault or blame."
Word Tutor:
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culprit
IN BRIEF: A guilty person or thing.
But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else. In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit. Weeds are people's idea, not nature's.
— Unknown.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'culprit'
- Morality or Character
- Pranks and Tricks - culprit: one guilty of wrongdoing or mischief
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Culprit
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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) |
A culprit, under English law properly the prisoner at the bar, is one accused of a crime. The term is used, generally, of one guilty of an offence. In origin the word is a combination of two Anglo-French legal words, culpable: guilty, and prit or prest: Old French: ready. On the prisoner at the bar pleading not guilty, the clerk of the crown answered culpable, and states that he was ready (prest) to join issue. The words "cul. prist" were then entered on the roll, showing that issue had been joined. When French law terms were discontinued, the words were taken as forming one word addressed to the prisoner.
The formula "Culprit, how will you be tried?" in answer to a plea of "not guilty," is first found in the trial for murder of the 7th Earl of Pembroke in 1678.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Under modern criminal law, the preferred term is defendant.
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Translations:
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Culprit
Dansk (Danish)
n. - tiltalt, skyldig
Nederlands (Dutch)
dader, schuldige, boosdoener
Français (French)
n. - coupable, responsable, (Jur) accusé
Deutsch (German)
n. - Schuldiger, Täter
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ένοχος, φταίχτης, υπαίτιος, δράστης
Português (Portuguese)
n. - culpado (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - culpable, acusado
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - missdådare, syndare
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
被控犯罪的人, 罪犯, 刑事被告
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 被控犯罪的人, 罪犯, 刑事被告
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 죄인, 피의자, 미결수
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 犯罪者, 犯人, 被告人, 未決囚
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) المذنب, الجاني, المجرم
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - פושע, נאשם
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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