# blame

Pronunciation: US say "BLAYM" /bleɪm/; UK

## Verb

1. To hold a person or thing responsible for something bad; to say that a fault or bad outcome was caused by them.
   - Simple: To say that a person or thing caused something bad.
   - _Critics blame the mayor for the city's worsening traffic._
   - _He has always blamed himself for the accident._
3. To criticize someone or something for what they did or how they are, judging their conduct to be wrong rather than naming them as the cause of a particular bad result.
   - Simple: To criticize someone or something, saying they have done wrong.
   - _A biographer's job is to understand her subject, not to praise or blame him._
   - _The pamphlet blamed the clergy for their luxury and idleness._

## Noun

2. Responsibility for a fault, failure or bad outcome; the state of being the one at fault.
   - Simple: The fact of being the one who caused something bad.
   - _The investigation placed the blame squarely on the contractor._
   - _Much of the blame for the famine lay with failed agricultural policies._
4. Censure; the expression of disapproval or strong criticism directed at a person for their actions.
   - Simple: Strong words of disapproval for something a person has done.
   - _The editorial heaped blame on officials who had ignored the warnings._
   - _Her candor brought her more blame than praise._

## Adjective

5. A mild substitute for 'damn,' used to add emphasis, often expressing annoyance or frustration. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A mild word used instead of 'damn' to add emphasis, often when someone is annoyed.
   - _"I can't get this blame fence post to stand up straight," the old farmer muttered, wiping his brow._
   - _"Every blame time it rains, that roof leaks," Grandma complained, setting a bucket under the drip._

## Verb

6. To bring into disrepute; to damage the reputation or standing of a person or thing. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To harm someone's good name or make people think badly of them.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A source control feature that shows which user last modified each line or portion of a file's code.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 4** — This word came through Middle English from Old French "blame" (also "blasme"), formed from the verb "blasmer." That verb came from Late Latin "blastēmāre," a variant of "blasphēmāre," from Ancient Greek "blasphēméō." It is a doublet of "blaspheme" and displaced the native Old English "tǣling."
**Meanings 1, 3, 5–6** — The chain starts with Ancient Greek "blasphēméō," which Late Latin made into "blasphēmāre" ("to reproach, to revile"); Old French turned that into "blasmer," and English got it as Middle English "blamen." "Blaspheme" is a doublet, and this word pushed aside the native "wite."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/blame (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).