accredit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to provide or send with credentials; designate officially.
to accredit an envoy.
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to certify (a school, college, or the like) as meeting all formal official requirements of academic excellence, curriculum, facilities, etc.
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to make authoritative, creditable, or reputable; sanction.
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to regard as true; believe.
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to ascribe or attribute to (usually followed bywith ).
He was accredited with having said it.
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to attribute or ascribe; consider as belonging.
an invention accredited to Edison.
verb
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to ascribe or attribute
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to give official recognition to; sanction; authorize
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to certify or guarantee as meeting required standards
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to furnish or send (an envoy, etc) with official credentials
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to appoint (someone) as an envoy, etc
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to pass (a candidate) for university entrance on school recommendation without external examination
there are six accrediting schools in the area
Other Word Forms
- accreditable adjective
- accreditation noun
- preaccredit verb (used with object)
- reaccredit verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of accredit
First recorded in 1610–20; earlier acredit, from Middle French acrediter; ac-, credit
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last year, Florida and five other states established the Commission for Public Higher Education to accredit their public university systems.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
Vienna has so far refused to accredit Taliban-appointed diplomats, although the Austrian government has held direct talks with Taliban authorities over deportations this year.
From Barron's • Oct. 31, 2025
But scores more accredit Piker for either their radicalization or their de-radicalization.
From Slate • Feb. 18, 2025
The exams regulator Ofqual will review and accredit the syllabus before it can be taught in schools and colleges.
From BBC • Dec. 20, 2023
They accredit such degree of belief as may remain, in this enlightened age, to some remote part—to the south, if they dwell in the north; to the north, if they dwell in the south.
From British Goblins Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Sikes, Wirt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.