Mea Culpa
Meaning
I’m to blame. The literal translation from the Latin is ‘through my own fault’. Even those who don’t speak Latin could probably make a guess that this phrase means ‘I am culpable’, or words to that effect.
Origin
The phrase originates in the Confiteor which is a part of the Catholic Mass where sinners acknowledge their failings before God. Confiteor translates as ‘I confess’.
It has a long history of use in English and was used by Chaucer in his Troylus as early as 1374:
“Now, mea culpa, lord! I me repente.”
To emphasize the point the phrase is sometimes strengthened to ‘mea maxima culpa’ – literally ‘my most grievous fault’. This also has longstanding use, as here in Watson’s Decacordon, 1604:
“Shall lay their hands a little heavier on their hearts with Mea maxima culpa.”
