late 17th cent. (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'
