colpa Italian · revision 37760

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1065, Umbrian confession formula (Norcia)|origins=la culpa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkol.pa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''colpa''' ''f'' (plural colpe)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|corpa]], [[m|roa-oit|culpa]] and [[m|roa-oit|cholpa]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|culpa|t=fault, guilt]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Nocentini sets it beside [[fro|coupe]] and [[pro|colpa]], and notes that [[ca|culpa]], [[es|culpa|alt=culpa]] and [[pt|culpa|alt=culpa]] were taken from Latin by learned speakers.^(Nocentini 2010) Meyer-Lübke went further: although the Italian form shows the regular change of the short Latin /u/ to /o/, he doubted that the word was inherited anywhere in Romance.^(REW 1935) Körting called it learned and ecclesiastical in every Romance language, the everyday words for moral guilt being nouns formed from [[la|fallō|t=to deceive; to fail]].^(Körting 1907)

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+ The Latin noun had an older form [[m|la|colpa]], recorded by Priscian.^(de Vaan 2008) Its origin is uncertain: DELI and Nocentini find no sure comparison for it, and Devoto saw no connections outside Italy.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) The Oxford Latin Dictionary compares [[osc|kulupu]], whose meaning is itself unclear.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan tentatively derives it from a noun [[ine-pro|*kʷolp-eh₂]] meaning “a wrong”, from a root [[ine-pro|*kʷelp-|t=to wind, turn]] seen in [[non|hvelfa|t=to make vaulted, turn over]] and perhaps in [[prg|poquelbton|t=kneeling]], through [[itc-pro|*kʷolpā|t=wrong, mistake]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is a confession formula from Norcia in Umbria, dated 1065.^(TLIO)^(Zingarelli 2010) DELI's first literary record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “a fault, a failing; an action that offends morality and the law”.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word already covered responsibility felt for a wrong, a breach of the law, and sin in the religious sense, with phrases such as ''colpa originale'' (original sin), ''mia colpa'' in the confession, and ''per colpa di'' “through the fault of”.^(TLIO) It could also mean a defect in an animal or a thing, and the person to blame for something.^(TLIO) Dante writes in the ''Paradiso'': “Molte fiate già pianser li figli / per la colpa del padre” (many times have sons wept for their father's fault).^(GDLI|3, 319)

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+ Tommaseo observed that Latin linked the word with negligence, in contrast with deliberate fraud, and modern law keeps that distinction between ''colpa'' and ''dolo''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Zingarelli 2010) The sense “an action with a bad outcome”, whoever intended it, is recorded in 1723 in Giuseppe Casaregi, together with the adjective ''colposo''.^(DELI 1999) An obsolete sense was an error or imperfection, as in a misprint.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ The derivative ''colpevole'' appears in the ''Novellino'' at the end of the 13th century;^(DELI 1999) ''colpevolista'', someone convinced of a defendant's guilt before the verdict, was coined with ''innocentista'' in November 1947 during the Graziosi trial.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1065 – A confession formula from Norcia has the word.^(TLIO)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''colpa'' for a moral fault.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – ''Colpevole'' “guilty” appears in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a father's fault visited on his sons.^(GDLI|3, 319)

+ * 1723 – Giuseppe Casaregi uses it for an action with harmful effects, and has ''colposo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1818 – ''Colpevolezza'' is recorded in Ludovico Di Breme.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1947 – ''Colpevolista'' is coined during the Graziosi trial.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|fault]]: an action against morality or the law, and the responsibility that follows from it: ''Ha pagato a lungo per una colpa di gioventù.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(religion)'' A [[m|en|sin]]: ''colpa originale'', original sin.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(law)'' [[m|en|negligence]], imprudence or lack of skill that causes harm to others without intent, as opposed to ''dolo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # [[m|en|blame]], responsibility for something bad; its cause: ''La colpa del ritardo è dello sciopero.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(psychology)'' In ''senso di colpa'' and ''complesso di colpa'', a feeling of [[m|en|guilt]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' An error of language or style.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[colpevole]]

+ * [[colpevolezza]]

+ * [[colposo]]

+ * [[colpevolista]]

+ * [[colpevolismo]]

+ * [[incolpare]]

+ * [[discolpare]]

+ * [[discolpa]]

+ * [[scolpare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[colpabile]]

+ * [[la|culpa]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Per colpa di'' means “because of”, with a negative effect;^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011) ''sentirsi in colpa'' is “to feel guilty”, and ''dare la colpa a qualcuno'' “to blame someone”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Treccani 2011) The proverb ''che colpa ci ha la gatta se la massaia è matta?'' is said of someone who blames others for their own faults.^(Treccani 2011) In grammar, the ''complemento di colpa'' names the offence someone is accused of, introduced by ''di'' or ''per''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}