English → Latin
“blame” in Latin
reprehendōto hold back, hold fast, take hold of, seize, catch; to hold fast, check, restrain; retrieve, recover, restore; to blamevituperōto censure; to scold, tell off, blame; to disparage, find fault withculpōto blameincrepōto rattle, twang or make a similar noise; to cause to give forth a sound, sound, resound; to rebuke, chide, protest, comimprobōto disapprove; to blame, condemn, rejectmereōto deserve, merit; to earn, get, obtain, acquire; to serve, to render service to (with ablative of the person or thing ireprehēnsiōblame, reprimand, criticism; refutationvituperātiōa censuring; blaming; censure; blame; charge against; criticismculpātiōcensure, rebuke, reproach, blameobiūrgātiōchiding, reproving, reproof, rebuke, reprehension
The English word blame itself goes back to Latin blasphēmō, through blastemo.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
blame v.
a., reprehendere (to blame in a friendly way, for the purpose of setting a man right): vituperare (to rebuke for the purpose of bringing a man to a confession of his fault, to shame, and repentance): culpare (to lay the blame on, aliquem or aliquid: to be blamed for anything, culpari ob aliquid; in aliquo: deserredly, merito): increpare (in a loud, railing way); improbare (to declare disapprobation of). To blame one in a firiendly manner, aliquem amice reprehendere. To blame one for a thing, reprehendere aliquem de aliqua re or in aliqua re. I am not to be blamed for this, a me haec culpa procul est. To be to blame, in vitio esse: in culpa esse. We are so much the more to blame, nobis eo minus ignoscendum est.
blame s.
reprehensio: vituperatio, culpatio, objurgatio. To fall into blame, reprehendi, vituperari, in vituperationem venire, cadere, incidere. To deserve blame, in vitio esse. I confess myself to blame for these things, haec mea culpa fateor fieri. To lay the blame upon one, culpam in aliquem conferre, transferre (this latter, from one’s self on another): culpam alicui attribuere, assignare. One passes the blame over to the other, causam alter in alterum confert.
Fault, vitium, culpa; noxia, noxa; crimen.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for blame?
- The usual Latin words for “blame” are reprehendō, vituperō, culpō; also increpō, improbō, mereō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.