(1) To grant. (2) To be in harmony; agree.

A new federal law may accord with—or be in *accordance* with—the guidelines that a company has already established. The rowdy behavior of the hero Beowulf accords with Norse ideals of the early Middle Ages; but such behavior wouldn't have been in accordance with the ideals of a later young lord from the same general region, Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet. *Accord* is also a noun, meaning “agreement.” Thus, we often hear of two countries signing a peace accord; and we also frequently hear of two things or people being “in accord with” each other.

(1) A state of agreement: harmony. (2) A formal agreement.

The roots of *concord* suggest the meaning “hearts together.” At the very outset of the American Revolution, the town of Concord, Massachusetts, was the site of a famous battle—obviously not exactly in keeping with its name. It shares that name with the capital of New Hampshire and a few other towns and cities, and *Concordia*, the original Latin word for “concord,” is the name of several Lutheran universities. Today *concord* is a rather formal term, probably most often used to mean a specific agreement; thus, two countries may sign a concord on matters that have led to trouble in the past.

Warm, friendly, gracious.

Anything that is cordial comes from the heart. Cordial greetings to friends on the street, or cordial relations between two countries, are warm without being passionate. *Cordial* is also a noun, which originally meant any stimulating medicine or drink that was thought to be good for the heart. Today a cordial is a liqueur, a sweetened alcoholic drink with interesting flavoring. Cordials such as crème de menthe, Drambuie, or Benedictine are alcoholic enough to warm the spirits and the heart.

Being at odds, conflicting, not in harmony.

*Discord,* a word more common in earlier centuries than today, means basically “conflict,” so *discordant* often means “conflicting.” The opinions of Supreme Court justices are frequently discordant; justices who disagree with the Court's decision usually write a dissenting opinion. *Discordant* is often used with a somewhat musical meaning, suggesting that a single wrong note or harmony has been heard in the middle of a performance—even though musical words such as *chord* actually come from a different Latin word, meaning “cord” or “string” (a reference to the strings of ancient instruments such as the lyre).

Deserving to be condemned or blamed.

*Culpable* normally means simply “guilty.” To a lawyer, “culpable negligence” is carelessness so serious that it becomes a crime—for instance, building a swimming pool in your suburban yard with no fence around it, so that a neighbor's child could fall in and drown. But degrees of *culpability* are important in the law; someone who intended to do harm always faces a more serious challenge in court than someone who was merely careless.

To clear from accusations of fault or guilt.

*Exculpate* gets its meaning from the prefix *ex-,* which here means “out of” or “away from.” A suspected murderer may be exculpated by the confession of another person. And *exculpatory* evidence is the kind that defense lawyers are always looking for.

To accuse or incriminate; to show evidence of someone's involvement in a fault or crime.

*Inculpate* is the opposite of *exculpate,* just as *inculpatory* evidence is the opposite of *exculpatory* evidence. By inculpating someone else, an accused person may manage to exculpate himself. Through plea bargaining, the prosecution can often encourage a defendant to inculpate his friends in return for a lighter sentence.

An admission of personal fault or error.

*Mea culpa,* Latin for “through my fault,” comes from the prayer in the Catholic mass in which, back when Latin was still the language of the mass, one would confess to having sinned “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” (“through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”). When we say “Mea culpa” today, it means “I apologize” or “It was my fault.” But *mea culpa* is also common as a noun. So, for instance, a book may be a long mea culpa for the author's past treatment of women, or an oil company may issue a mea culpa after a tanker runs aground.