Etymograph

English

culpable

Culpable comes from Latin culpābilis ‘blameworthy’, from culpa ‘a fault, crime, mistake’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- ‘to bend, turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelp-‘to bend, turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷolp-eh₂‘bend, turn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷolpā‘wrong, mistake’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpa‘a fault, crime, mistake’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpō‘to blame, condemn’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpābilis‘blameworthy’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400culpable
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1971same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelp-‘to bend, turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷolp-eh₂‘bend, turn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷolpā‘wrong, mistake’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpa‘a fault, crime, mistake’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpō‘to blame, condemn’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEculpābilis‘blameworthy’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400culpable
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1971same form

Earliest quotation: 1971, Nancy Walker, Out Of The Closet And Into The World: “It would be […] impossible to list all the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- ‘to bend, turn’

gulf, overwhelm, 11 more

Today it means

adj Meriting condemnation, censure or blame, especially as something wrong, harmful or injurious; blameworthy, guilty.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- / culpable

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