credential

American  

[kri-den-shuhl] / krɪˈdɛn ʃəl /

noun

1. Usually credentials.

   1. evidence of authority, status, rights, entitlement to privileges, or the like, usually in written form.

      Only those with the proper credentials are admitted.

   2. Digital Technology. information that identifies an account and keeps it secure, as username and password.

      The IT department assigns temporary system credentials to new employees.

2. anything that provides the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.

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verb (used with object)

credentialed, credentialing, credentialled, credentialling

1. to grant credentials to, especially educational and professional ones.

   She has been credentialed to teach math.

adjective

1. providing the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.

credential British  

/ krɪˈdɛnʃəl /

noun

1. something that entitles a person to confidence, authority, etc

2. (plural) a letter or certificate giving evidence of the bearer's identity or competence

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adjective

1. entitling one to confidence, authority, etc

Other Word Forms

• credentialed adjective
• uncredentialed adjective

Etymology

Origin of credential

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English credencial, from Medieval Latin crēdenti(a); credence, -al ¹

Example Sentences

An Anthropic spokesperson said the release was caused by "human error, not a security breach," and that "no sensitive customer data or credentials were exposed or involved".

From BBC

But while that once meant sizing up a candidate’s experience and credentials against the going market rate, it increasingly means feeding the candidate’s personal data into an algorithm.

From MarketWatch

"Earlier today, a Claude Code release included some internal source code. No sensitive customer data or credentials were involved or exposed," an Anthropic spokesperson said.

From Barron's

“Allbirds could have leaned in to any of these things alongside its green credentials but largely chose not to do so.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It added there was "currently no mechanism inside the current legislation to check a landlord's credentials".

From BBC

Related Words

• affidavit
• authentication
• authorization
• certification
• coupon
• deed
• diploma
• documentation
• guarantee
• license
• paper
• permit
• receipt
• ticket
• voucher
• warrant
• warranty