mea culpa
noun
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
Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
Langley offered her mea culpa at the Toronto Film Festival as part of a discussion with Cameron Bailey, the festival’s director.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
But on Bitcoin, even after his mea culpa, Rogoff is still wrong.
—Christian Catalini, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The bigger story from Altman’s dinner wasn’t his mea culpa.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mea culpa
Cite this Entry
“Mea culpa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mea%20culpa. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share