different between murderer vs culprit

English

Alternative forms

• murtherer (obsolete)

Etymology

From murder +? -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?d???/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??d???/
• Hyphenation: mur?der?er

Noun

murderer (plural murderers, feminine murderess)

1. A person who commits murder.
   • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

     It was two o'clock when she came to herself and called for the police. The murderer was gone long ago; but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled. The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty

   • I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:killer

Coordinate terms

• murderess

Related terms

• murder
• murderess

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• demurrer

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cul. prit, contraction of culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) 'guilty: ready (to prove our case)', words used by prosecutor in opening a trial, mistaken in English for an address to the defendant. See culpable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?k???p??t]

Noun

culprit (plural culprits)

1. The person or thing at fault for a problem or crime.

   I have tightened the loose bolt that was the culprit; it should work now.
2. (Britain, law) A prisoner accused but not yet tried.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:criminal

Related terms

• culpable
• mea culpa

Translations