credential
[kri-den-shuh l]
- Usually credentials. evidence of authority, status, rights, entitlement to privileges, or the like, usually in written form: Only those with the proper credentials are admitted.
- anything that provides the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.
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- to grant credentials to, especially educational and professional ones: She has been credentialed to teach math.
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- providing the basis for confidence, belief, credit, etc.
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Origin of credential
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for credentials
Contemporary Examples
First, his credentials: He did international mergers and acquisitions at Lazard, a financial and asset management firm.
And it has become a go-to stop for Republican politicians eager to shore up their Christian credentials.
Cruz also took pains to build up his credentials on foreign policy, appearing at anti-CPAC event sponsored by Frank Gaffney.
I considered whether to enter the fray, since my credentials were in order, so to speak.
Is there anything Zarif could do to forfeit his credentials as a “moderate”?
Historical Examples
He could show his credentials at a moment's notice with proud defiance.
The Universal ReciterVarious
The sign and credentials of the poet are that he announces that which no man foretold.
Essays, Second SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
"I think that first, perhaps, I should look at your credentials," Vard suggested.
The DestroyerBurton Egbert Stevenson
Let us first have our dinner, M'Kinlay, and then I'll write your credentials.
Luttrell Of ArranCharles James Lever
If you think I am lying, young gentlemen, I will show you my credentials.
Frank Merriwell's CruiseBurt L. Standish
credential
- something that entitles a person to confidence, authority, etc
- (plural) a letter or certificate giving evidence of the bearer's identity or competence
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- entitling one to confidence, authority, etc
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Word Origin
C16: from Medieval Latin crēdentia credit, trust; see credence
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for credentials
n.
"letters entitling the bearer to certain credit or confidence," 1670s, from Medieval Latin credentialis, from credentia (see credence). Probably immediately as a shortening of letters credential (1520s, with French word order); earlier was letter of credence (mid-14c.).
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credential
n.
"that which entitles to credit," 1756, probably a back-formation from credentials. Earlier in English as an adjective, "confirming, corroborating" (late 15c.). As a verb, "provide with credentials," by 1828 (implied in dredentialed).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper