What Does Mea Culpa Mean? | Definition & Examples

Mea culpa is an interjection meaning ‘through my fault’. It can also be used as a noun referring to an admission of guilt.

‘Mea culpa’ originates from a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church, but it’s now used in a more general sense to admit that something was your fault or to refer to a formal acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

Make your writing flawless in 1 upload

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

‘Mea culpa’ is a term of Latin origin (like ‘ad nauseam‘, “vice versa‘, and ‘et al.‘), but it has been used in the English language for hundreds of years, so it doesn’t need to be italicised as a more recent loanword would be.

Other interesting language articles

If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Upload my document

Frequently asked questions

What does ‘mea maxima culpa’ mean?

Mea maxima culpa is a term of Latin origin meaning ‘through my most grievous fault’. It is used to acknowledge a mistake or wrongdoing. Mea maxima culpa is a stronger version of mea culpa, which means ‘through my fault’.

Mea maxima culpa is traditionally used in a prayer of confession in the Catholic Church as the third and most emphatic expression of guilt (‘mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa’). Unlike mea culpa, mea maxima culpa is rarely used outside of a religious context.

How do I pronounce ‘mea culpa’?

Mea culpa has four syllables. It’s pronounced with emphasis on the first and third syllables: [May-uh-kuul-puh].