blame

Etymology 1

From Middle English blame, borrowed from Old French blame, blasme, produced from the verb blasmer, which in turn is derived from Late Latin blastēmāre, variant of blasphēmāre, from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō). Doublet of blaspheme. Displaced native Old English tǣling (“blame”) and tǣlan (“to blame”).

noun

1. Censure.
   Blame came from all directions.
2. Culpability for something negative or undesirable.
   The blame for starting the fire lies with the arsonist.
3. Responsibility for something meriting censure.
   They accepted the blame, but it was an accident.
4. (computing) A source control feature that can show which user was responsible for a particular portion of the source code.

Etymology 2

From Middle English blamen, borrowed from Old French blasmer, from Late Latin blasphēmāre, from Ancient Greek βλασφημέω (blasphēméō). Compare blaspheme, a doublet. Overtook common use from the native wite (“to blame, accuse, reproach, suspect”) (from Middle English wīten, from Old English wītan).

verb

1. To censure (someone or something); to criticize.
   That was the year that Sir Richard was writing his volume on Domestic Life in Tartary. The critics all blamed it for a lack of concentration. 1919, Saki, ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace
   I covered the serious programmes too, and indeed, right from the start, I spent more time praising than blaming. 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 106
2. (obsolete) To bring into disrepute.
3. (transitive, usually followed by "for") To assert or consider that someone is the cause of something negative; to place blame, to attribute responsibility (for something negative or for doing something negative).
   The student driver was blamed for the accident.
   After what happened at the wedding, I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to them again.
4. (transitive, with "on") To assert the cause of some bad event.
   We blamed the accident on the student driver.