coulpe

Inherited from Middle French coulpe, from Old French coupe, colpe, inherited from Latin culpa, which see for more. The expected form would be *coupe; the -l- was reintroduced in Middle French – first in spelling, then in pronunciation – after the Latin etymon, in part to avoid the homonymy with coupe (“cup”).

• IPA^(key): /kulp/

• Audio:

  (file)

coulpe f (plural coulpes)

1. (archaic, rare, in certain contexts only) guilt, sin

• battre sa coulpe (“to beat one's breast”)

• coupable
• culpabilité

• “coulpe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Old French coupe, colpe, from Latin culpa.

• IPA^(key): /kupə/, /kulpə/

coulpe f (plural coulpes)

1. fault, responsibility

• French: coulpe