credence

See also: crédence

English

Wikipedia

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 ‎(countable and uncountable, plural credences)

1. (uncountable) 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, uncountable) Credential or supporting material for a person or claim.

   He presented us with a letter of credence.

3. (religion, countable) A small table or credenza used in certain Christian religious services.
4. (countable) A cupboard, sideboard, or cabinet, particularly one intended for the display of rich vessels or plate on open shelves.

Related terms

• credential
• credibility

Translations

acceptance of a belief or claim

• Bulgarian: вяра (bg) f ‎(vjara), доверие (bg) n ‎(doverie)
• Dutch: aanvaarding (nl) f, geloof (nl) n, aanname (nl) f
• Finnish: uskottavuus (fi)
• French: crédit (fr) m

• Japanese: 信任 (ja) ‎(shin'nin)
• Portuguese: crédito (pt) m, crença (pt) f
• Russian: ве́ра (ru) ‎(véra)
• Scottish Gaelic: creideas 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)

• Portuguese: crédito (pt) m
• Scottish Gaelic: creideas m
• Spanish: crédito (es) m

small table or credenza used in certain Christian religious services

• Russian: же́ртвенник (ru) m ‎(žértvennik)

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)

• Portuguese: acreditar (pt)

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.

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Old French

Alternative forms

• credance

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin credentia. Compare croiance, creance.

Noun

credence f ‎(oblique plural credences, nominative singular credence, nominative plural credences)

1. faith; confidence