credence

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Old French credence, from Medieval Latin crēdentia (“belief, faith”), from Latin crēdēns, present active participle of crēdō (“loan, confide in, trust, believe”).

Noun

credence (uncountable)

1. Acceptance of a belief or claim as true, especially on the basis of evidence.

   Based on the scientific data, I give credence to this hypothesis.

2. (rare) Credential or supporting material for a person or claim.

   He presented us with a letter of credence.

3. (religion) A small table or credenza used in certain Christian religious services.

Related terms

• credential
• credibility

Translations

acceptance of a belief or claim

Bulgarian: вяра (bg) f., доверие (bg) n. Dutch: aanvaarding (nl) f., geloof (nl) n., aanname (nl) f. Finnish: uskottavuus (fi) French: crédit (fr) m. Japanese: 信任 (ja) (shin'nin)

Scottish Gaelic: creideas (gd) m. Spanish: crédito (es) m. Swedish: trovärdighet (sv)

credential or supporting material for a person or claim

Dutch: (person) aanbeveling (nl) f., (claim) ondersteuning (nl) f., bewijs (nl) n. German: Beglaubigung (de)

Scottish Gaelic: creideas (gd) m. Spanish: crédito (es) m.

small table or credenza used in certain Christian religious services

Verb

credence (third-person singular simple present credences, present participle credencing, simple past and past participle credenced)

1. (obsolete) To give credence to; to believe.

Translations

acceptance of a belief or claim

Dutch: aanvaarden (nl), aannemen (nl), geloven (nl)

References

• “credence” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• credence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “credence” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.