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to blame

 - 3 dictionary results

blame

[bleym] verb, blamed, blam⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to hold responsible; find fault with; censure: I don't blame you for leaving him.
2. to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.) (usually fol. by on): I blame the accident on her.
3. Informal. blast; damn (used as a mild curse): Blame the rotten luck.
–noun
4. an act of attributing fault; censure; reproof: The judge said he found nothing to justify blame in the accident.
5. responsibility for anything deserving of censure: We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition.
6. to blame, at fault; censurable: I am to blame for his lateness.

Origin:
1150–1200; (v.) ME blamen < AF, OF blasmer < VL *blastēmāre, for LL blasphēmāre to blaspheme; (n.) ME < AF, OF bla(s)me, deriv. of the v.


blamer, noun


1, 2. reproach, reprove, reprehend, criticize. Blame, censure, condemn imply finding fault with someone or something. To blame is to hold accountable for, and disapprove because of, some error, mistake, omission, neglect, or the like: Whom do you blame for the disaster? The verb censure differs from the noun in connoting scolding or rebuking even more than adverse criticism: to censure one for extravagance. To condemn is to express an adverse (esp. legal) judgment, without recourse: to condemn conduct, a building, a person to death. 4. reprehension, condemnation, stricture, reproach, animadversion. 5. guilt, culpability, fault, sin.


Some speakers avoid blame on as informal (He blamed the fight on me), preferring blame alone (He blamed me) or blame for (He blamed me for it). Since all three forms occur with equal frequency in educated usage, they may all be considered equally acceptable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To to blame
blame   (blām)   
tr.v.   blamed, blam·ing, blames
  1. To hold responsible.

  2. To find fault with; censure.

  3. To place responsibility for (something): blamed the crisis on poor planning.

n.  
  1. The state of being responsible for a fault or error; culpability.

  2. Censure; condemnation.


[Middle English blamen, from Old French blasmer, blamer, from Vulgar Latin *blastēmāre, alteration of Late Latin blasphēmāre, to reproach; see blaspheme.]
blam'er n.
Synonyms: These nouns denote a sense of responsibility for an offense. Blame stresses censure or punishment for a lapse or misdeed for which one is held accountable: The police laid the blame for the accident on the driver.
Fault is culpability for wrongdoing or failure: It is my own fault that I wasn't prepared for the exam.
Guilt applies to willful wrongdoing and stresses moral culpability: The prosecution had evidence of the defendant's guilt. See Also Synonyms at criticize.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

blame 
c.1200, from O.Fr. blasmer "to speak evil of," from L.L. blasphemare "revile, reproach" (see blaspheme). Replaced O.E. witan.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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