What does mea culpa mean?

Question

What does mea culpa mean?

Answer 1

Literally it means, "my fault", in Latin.  Kind of a classical version of, "my bad."

Answer 2

to ask for forgivness.

Answer 3

Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that translates into English as "my fault", or "my own fault". In order to emphasize the message, the adjective "maxima" may be inserted, resulting in "mea maxima culpa," which would translate as "my most [grievous] fault."

The origin of the expression is from a traditional prayer in the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church known as Confiteor (Latin for "I confess"), in which the individual recognizes his or her flaws before God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mea_culpa

An acknowledgment of a personal error or fault.

audio pronunciation here:

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