Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

felix culpa

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.51 in modern English

Syllables: fe-lix cul-pa
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A series of miserable events that will eventually lead to a happier outcome.

Literary

noun

The Biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve, the original sin, seen as fortunate (fēlīx), because it led to Christian redemption and the eventual hope of Heaven.

Example Sentences

"What happens, though, if you, the filmmaker, can't get the malevolence to work? That's where Jaws had its happy misfortune, its felix culpa. When the mechanical sharks failed to work[…][Steven] Spielberg and his cast had nothing to do but hole up evening after evening in a Martha's Vineyard house and spitball about the script, story and characters."
"I have shown that among older writers the fall of Adam was termed felix culpa, a fortunate sin, because it had been expiated with immense benefit by the incarnation of the Son of God: for he gave to the universe something more noble than anything there would otherwise have been amongst created beings."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fēlīx culpa (“blessed fault”), via Roman Catholic theology, first used in Latin in the 4th century CE.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: fēlīx culpa

Usage

Literary

Inflected Forms

felix culpas (plural) felices culpae (plural)

Synonyms

blessing in disguise

Questions

What does felix culpa mean?: A series of miserable events that will eventually lead to a happier outcome.
Where does felix culpa come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce felix culpa

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