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credit

[kred-it]
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noun
  1. commendation or honor given for some action, quality, etc.: Give credit where it is due.
  2. a source of pride or honor: You are a credit to your school.
  3. the ascription or acknowledgment of something as due or properly attributable to a person, institution, etc.: She got a screen credit for photography.
  4. trustworthiness; credibility: a witness of credit.
  5. confidence in a purchaser's ability and intention to pay, displayed by entrusting the buyer with goods or services without immediate payment.
  6. reputation of solvency and probity, entitling a person to be trusted in buying or borrowing: Your credit is good.
  7. influence or authority resulting from the confidence of others or from one's reputation.
  8. time allowed for payment for goods or services obtained on trust: 90 days' credit.
  9. repute; reputation; esteem.
  10. a sum of money due to a person; anything valuable standing on the credit side of an account: He has an outstanding credit of $50.
  11. Education.
    1. official acceptance and recording of the work completed by a student in a particular course of study.
    2. a credit hour.
  12. Bookkeeping.
    1. an entry of payment or value received on an account.
    2. the right-hand side of an account on which such entries are made (opposed to debit).
    3. an entry, or the total shown, on the credit side.
  13. any deposit or sum of money against which a person may draw.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to believe; put confidence in; trust; have faith in.
  2. to bring honor, esteem, etc., to; reflect well upon.
  3. Bookkeeping. to enter upon the credit side of an account; give credit for or to.
  4. Education. to award educational credits to (often followed by with): They credited me with three hours in history.
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Verb Phrases
  1. credit to/with, to ascribe to a (thing, person, etc.): In former times many herbs were credited with healing powers.
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Idioms
  1. do someone credit, to be a source of honor or distinction for someone.Also do credit to someone.
  2. on credit, by deferred payment: Everything they have was bought on credit.
  3. to one's credit, deserving of praise or recognition; admirable: It is to his credit that he freely admitted his guilt.
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Origin of credit

1535–45; < Middle French < Old Italian credito < Latin crēditum loan, noun use of neuter of crēditus, past participle of crēdere to believe, confide, entrust, give credit
Related formscred·it·less, adjectiveo·ver·cred·it, verbpre·cred·it, verb (used with object)su·per·cred·it, nounun·cred·it·ed, adjectivewell-cred·it·ed, adjective

Synonym study

4–7, 9. Credit, repute, reputation, standing refer to one's status in the estimation of a community. Credit refers to business and financial status and the amount of money for which a person will be trusted. Repute is particularly what is reported about someone, the favor in which the person is held, etc.: a man of fine repute among his acquaintances. Reputation is the moral and other character commonly ascribed to someone: of unblemished reputation. Standing is one's position in a community, or rank and condition in life: a man of good standing and education.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

attentionwealthmortgageloanbondbalancestocktrustconsideracceptreferfaithnoticekudosacknowledgmentcommendationconfidencemeritreliancecredence

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Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for credit

credit

noun
  1. commendation or approval, as for an act or qualityshe was given credit for her work
  2. a person or thing serving as a source of good influence, repute, ability, etca credit to the team
  3. the quality of being believable or trustworthythat statement had credit
  4. influence or reputation coming from the approval or good opinion of othershe acquired credit within the community
  5. belief in the truth, reliability, quality, etc, of someone or somethingI would give credit to that philosophy
  6. a sum of money or equivalent purchasing power, as at a shop, available for a person's use
    1. the positive balance in a person's bank account
    2. the sum of money that a bank makes available to a client in excess of any deposit
    1. the practice of permitting a buyer to receive goods or services before payment
    2. the time permitted for paying for such goods or services
  9. reputation for solvency and commercial or financial probity, inducing confidence among creditors
  10. accounting
    1. acknowledgment of an income, liability, or capital item by entry on the right-hand side of an account
    2. the right-hand side of an account
    3. an entry on this side
    4. the total of such entries
    5. (as modifier)credit entries Compare debit (def. 1)
  11. short for tax credit
  12. education
    1. a distinction awarded to an examination candidate obtaining good marks
    2. a section of an examination syllabus satisfactorily completed, as in higher and professional education
  13. letter of credit an order authorizing a named person to draw money from correspondents of the issuer
  14. on credit with payment to be made at a future date
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verb -its, -iting or -ited (tr)
  1. (foll by with) to ascribe (to); give credit (for)they credited him with the discovery
  2. to accept as true; believe
  3. to do credit to
  4. accounting
    1. to enter (an item) as a credit in an account
    2. to acknowledge (a payer) by making such an entryCompare debit (def. 2)
  5. to award a credit to (a student)
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See also credits
Derived Formscreditless, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Old French crédit, from Italian credito, from Latin crēditum loan, from crēdere to believe
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 credit

n.

1520s, from Middle French crédit (15c.) "belief, trust," from Italian credito, from Latin creditum "a loan, thing entrusted to another," from past participle of credere "to trust, entrust, believe" (see credo). The commercial sense was the original one in English (creditor is mid-15c.). Meaning "honor, acknowledgment of merit," is from c.1600. Academic sense of "point for completing a course of study" is 1904. Movie/broadcasting sense is 1914. Credit rating is from 1958; credit union is 1881, American English.

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v.

1540s, from credit (n.). Related: Credited; crediting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
credit in Culture

credit

The ability to obtain goods, money, or services in return for a promise to pay at some later date.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with credit

credit

see do someone proud (credit to); extend credit to; get credit for; give credit where credit is due.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.