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   cul·prit

   /ˈkəlprət/

   noun

   • 1. a person who is responsible for a crime or other misdeed.
   • ▪ the cause of a problem or defect: "viruses could turn out to be the culprit"

   Word Origin late 17th century (originally in the formula Culprit, how will you be tried?, said by the Clerk of the Crown to a prisoner pleading not guilty): perhaps from a misinterpretation of the written abbreviation cul. prist for Anglo-Norman French Culpable: prest d'averrer notre bille ‘(You are) guilty: (We are) ready to prove our indictment’; in later use influenced by Latin culpa ‘fault, blame’.

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • C

     3

   • U

     1

   • L

     1

   • P

     3

   • R

     1

   • I

     1

   • T

     1

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