culpas

Culpa is a Spanish noun that denotes fault, blame, or guilt. The plural culpas can refer to multiple faults or to a general sense of responsibility for a wrongdoing. In everyday language, culpa often appears in expressions that relate to personal accountability, whether moral or factual.

Etymology and related terms: Culpa comes from Latin culpa, meaning fault or blame. The term has cognates in other Romance languages, such as culpa in Portuguese, colpa in Italian, and culpa in Romanian. In Spanish, related words include culpable (guilty or culpable), culpabilidad (culpability or guilt), and culpable or sin culpa (with or without blame). The word is used in both informal and formal contexts.

Usage and examples: In common speech, phrases like tener la culpa (to be at fault), echarle la culpa a alguien (to blame someone), and culpa mía (my fault) are widespread. Sin culpa means without fault, while culpa ajena refers to someone else’s fault. Culpa propia or compartida indicates personal or shared responsibility. In many contexts, culpa is distinguished from responsabilidad: culpa emphasizes fault or blame, whereas responsabilidad often covers duty or accountability more broadly.

Legal and psychological dimensions: In legal language, culpa commonly means fault in liability or negligence, with terms such as culpa objetiva (objective fault) and culpa subjetiva (subjective fault). Culpabilidad is the degree of criminal responsibility. In psychology, culpa refers to the feeling of guilt or remorse, sometimes discussed in the context of guilt-proneness or moral emotions.

See also: The concept intersects with discussions of responsibility, blame, and moral psychology, and varies across Spanish-speaking regions in idiomatic usage.