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); see credence, -al ¹

Explanation

A credential is something that’s proof of a claim you make about yourself or your skills. You might earn a credential in computer networking that lets employers know that you’re qualified to do the job. A credential can be a particular qualification that you earn or it can refer more generally to achievements or qualities that you’ve acquired over time. You’ll most often see the word credential used in its plural form: credentials. You typically refer to your credentials to show that you're qualified to do something. Your strong academic credentials might qualify you to work as an assistant at a hip magazine during the summer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

credential credentialed credentialing credentialled credentialling

Francis is Hegseth’s military assistant—and that’s his key credential as far as the self-named “secretary of war” is concerned.

From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026

She hopes the credential will position her for a job as an accounting specialist or bookkeeper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

“Businesses, particularly those that collect and maintain sensitive personal and genetic data, can and should know to guard against” credential stuffing, the attorney general’s release said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

Users were targeted by a so-called "credential stuffing" attack in which hackers used passwords exposed in previous breaches to access 23andMe accounts for which people had used similar credentials.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

Claytor, who earned a PhD in math from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933, was only the third Negro in the country to obtain the credential.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Days later the Pentagon updated its press rules, saying it would move all credentialed journalists to a workspace in an annex facility outside the Pentagon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

You can start with the IRS directory of credentialed professionals.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026

But also interspersed between the credentialed professionals are a gaggle of YouTubers, streamers, and TikTokers—with mounted iPhones—documenting the saga in real time.

From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026

The emergence of BlackRock's Rick Rieder as a Federal Reserve frontrunner means the US central bank could be led by a financial markets master less academically credentialed than other recent chairs.

From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026

Identification card: An applicant requesting relief would be referred to a credentialed volunteer relief committee.

From The Great Steel Strike and its Lessons by Foster, William Z.

“Our lawyers feel it’s OK to do it under the right physician credentialing and infrastructure, and in the right states,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

North Carolina’s AI Academy at NC State, built with more than 100 corporate partners, combines university credentialing with applied workplace training.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

The tax bill also expands eligible expenses to include credentialing and licensing programs such coursework or tests to become a fitness trainer, a certified public accountant, or a lawyer.

From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025

He posted a list on X of what he called “press credentialing FOR DUMMIES: Press no longer roams free Press must wear visible badge Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.”

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2025

So far, the state has approved seven PK-3 credentialing programs, including San Jose’s and another at Fresno State and Dominguez Hillsthat will launch in the spring.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024

But he still believed in creating literary projects unencumbered by the traditional press and its credentialled demands.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 15, 2019

Compared with “live scribing,” this system is purportedly more accurate—since the scribes tend to be fully credentialled doctors, not aspiring med students—for the same price or cheaper.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 5, 2018

The oracular voice of authority is being drowned out by the aggregated voice of the Everyman, the credentialled scholar dethroned by the anonymous Wikipedia contributor.

From Economist ● Apr. 14, 2016

They were credentialled, like Lord Martin Rees, an astrophysicist and the co-founder of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 23, 2015

Trying to save the crew was all that kept me credentialled.

From Nature ● Sep. 4, 2013

Following Friday's ruling, the PPA said in a statement to CBS News that it "celebrates the decision by a federal judge today that the Pentagon's press credentialling policy violated the US Constitution".

From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026

The problem was that those with power were the ones determining how much credentialling was sufficient, making young people feel that they needed a degree, no matter the cost.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 2, 2019

Related Words

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