mea culpa

From the Latin phrase meā culpā (“through my fault”), ablative case of mea (“my”) culpa (“fault, guilt”), taken from the Confiteor, a traditional penitential prayer in Western Christianity.

• IPA^(key): /ˌmeɪ.əˈkʊl.pə/, /ˌmeɪ.əˈkʌl.pə/, /ˌmiː.əˈkʊl.pə/, /ˌmiː.əˈkʌl.pə/

mea culpa

1. My fault, due to my error; I am to blame.

   Synonyms: my bad, peccavi

• mea maxima culpa

• stand corrected

mea culpa (plural mea culpas or mea culpae)

1. An instance of mea culpa; an apology.

   Synonym: peccavi

   • 2018 January 13, Tad Bartimus, “When There’s Nuke Headed Your Way, ‘Do What You Gotta Do’”, in Civil Beat:

     Basketball had been replaced by breathless commentators cross-talking and speculating, politicians on split screens eagerly interrupting each other to find scapegoats, and most mute (male) state officials, including Hawaii Gov. David Ige, opening their mouths to sputter (paraphrasing here) — golly gee, we don’t know what happened, but we plan to find out — mea culpas.

   • 2021 September 1, Michael D. Shear; Jim Tankersley, “Biden Defends Afghan Pullout and Declares an End to Nation-Building”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     The president refused to offer any sort of mea culpa on Tuesday, even as the Taliban celebrated their “independence” from America with gunfire in the streets of Kabul.

   • 2022 October 27, Simon Parkin, “README.txt by Chelsea Manning review – secrets and spies”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     At her trial, lawyers convinced Manning to issue a mea culpa: […]

From the Latin phrase meā culpā (“through my fault”), from mea (“my, mine”) and culpa (“fault”) in the ablative.

• IPA^(key): /me.a kul.pa/

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mea culpa

1. mea culpa

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.aː ˈkul.paː/, [ˈmeäː ˈkʊɫ̪päː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.a ˈkul.pa/, [ˈmɛːä ˈkulpä]

meā culpā

1. through my fault
   • (Can we date this quote?), Text of the Tridentine Mass:

     Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Ioanni Baptistæ, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et vobis, fratres: quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

     I confess to the Almighty God, to the blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you brethren, that I have sinned exceedingly, in thought, word, and deed: through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

Borrowed from Latin meā culpā.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.a ˈkul.pa/
• Rhymes: -ulpa

mea culpa

1. mea culpa

• mea culpa in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mea culpa in Polish dictionaries at PWN