credit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun approval
    recognition.
    • give her recognition for trying
    • he was given credit for his work
    • give her credit for trying
  2. noun money available for a client to borrow
  3. noun an accounting entry acknowledging income or capital items
    credit entry.
  4. noun used in the phrase `to your credit' in order to indicate an achievement deserving praise;
    • she already had several performances to her credit
  5. noun arrangement for deferred payment for goods and services
    deferred payment.
  6. noun recognition by a college or university that a course of studies has been successfully completed; typically measured in semester hours
    course credit.
  7. noun a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage
    acknowledgment; reference; mention; citation; cite; quotation.
    • the student's essay failed to list several important citations
    • the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book
    • the article includes mention of similar clinical cases
  8. noun an entry on a list of persons who contributed to a film or written work
    • the credits were given at the end of the film
  9. noun an estimate, based on previous dealings, of a person's or an organization's ability to fulfill their financial commitments
    credit rating.
  10. verb give someone credit for something
    • We credited her for saving our jobs
  11. verb ascribe an achievement to
    accredit.
    • She was not properly credited in the program
  12. verb accounting: enter as credit
    • We credit your account with $100
  13. verb have trust in; trust in the truth or veracity of

WordNet

Cred"it noun
Etymology
F. crdit (cf. It. credito), L. creditum loan, prop. neut. of creditus, p. p. of credere to trust, loan, believe. See Creed.
Definitions
  1. Reliance on the truth of something said or done; belief; faith; trust; confidence.
    When Jonathan and the people heard these words they gave no credit into them, nor received them. 1 Macc. x. 46.
  2. Reputation derived from the confidence of others; esteem; honor; good name; estimation.
    John Gilpin was a citizen Of credit and renown. Cowper.
  3. A ground of, or title to, belief or confidence; authority derived from character or reputation.
    The things which we properly believe, be only such as are received on the credit of divine testimony. Hooker.
  4. That which tends to procure, or add to, reputation or esteem; an honor.
    I published, because I was told I might please such as it was a credit to please. Pope.
  5. Influence derived from the good opinion, confidence, or favor of others; interest.
    Having credit enough with his master to provide for his own interest. Clarendon.
  6. (Com.) Trust given or received; expectation of future playment for property transferred, or of fulfillment or promises given; mercantile reputation entitling one to be trusted; -- applied to individuals, corporations, communities, or nations; as, to buy goods on credit.
    Credit is nothing but the expectation of money, within some limited time. Locke.
  7. The time given for payment for lands or goods sold on trust; as, a long credit or a short credit.
  8. (Bookkeeping) The side of an account on which are entered all items reckoned as values received from the party or the category named at the head of the account; also, any one, or the sum, of these items; -- the opposite of debit; as, this sum is carried to one's credit, and that to his debit; A has several credits on the books of B.
    He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet. D. Webster.
Cred"it transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Credited; present participle & verbal noun Crediting
Definitions
  1. To confide in the truth of; to give credence to; to put trust in; to believe.
    How shall they credit A poor unlearned virgin? Shak.
  2. To bring honor or repute upon; to do credit to; to raise the estimation of.
    You credit the church as much by your government as you did the school formerly by your wit. South.
  3. (Bookkeeping) To enter upon the credit side of an account; to give credit for; as, to credit the amount paid; to set to the credit of; as, to credit a man with the interest paid on a bond.
    Crove, Helmholtz, and Meyer, are more than any others to be credited with the clear enunciation of this doctrine. Newman.

Webster 1913