Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1797, 1941
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CULPABLE, adj. In comb. culpable homicide, which “embraces all sorts of homicide which are neither casual nor justifiable on the one hand, nor murderous on the other” (Sc. [1754] J. Erskine Princ. Law Scot. (1903) iv. iv. 19). The English equivalent is manslaughter.Sc. 1797 D. Hume Commentaries (1819) I. 240:
The phrase of culpable homicide, as signifying homicide on great provocation, and punishable at the discretion of the Judge, has now gained a firm establishment as a known phrase of style, in libels, interlocutors, and verdicts.Sc. 1941 Scotsman (17 April) 8/1:
A corporal in the Military Police . . . accused of the murder of his wife and a naval petty officer by shooting them, was found guilty of culpable homicide.
