| 释义 |
▪ I. credit, n.|ˈkrɛdɪt|
Also 6 credyt(e, -ytte, creadyte, 6–7 credite, -itt(e, 7 creadit.
[a. F. crédit, 15th c. ad. It. credito belief, trust, reputation, ad. L. crēditus, -um, pa. pple. of crēdĕre to trust, believe. The pa. pple. neuter creditum was used in L. itself as a n., in sense of ‘thing entrusted to another, a loan’.]
1. Belief, credence, faith, trust. to give credit to: to believe, put faith in, credit.
1542–5Brinklow Lament. (1874) 109 Yf ye will geue no credyte to it. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 193 My..fore⁓warning watchwordes were counted unworthy credite. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 58 The rariety of it is..indeed almost beyond credit. 1674Allen Danger of Enthus. 15 To procure Credit to it by many Signs and Wonders. 1781Gibbon Decl. & Fall III. 58 Charges like these may seem to deserve some degree of credit. 1862Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. iii. 48 To give entire credit to whatever he shall state.
†2.
a. The attribute of being generally believed or credited; the quality or reputation of being worthy of belief or trust; trustworthiness, credibility (of persons, statements, etc.). Obs. or merged in 5 b.
1574tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 37 So euident an assurance of rewarde (if he bee of credite that hath promised it). 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 408 The creditt of which opinion I see not how it can be of any force. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. 2 Purchas, a Writer of good credit here in England, gives this testimony of my Author. 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 198 This..Absurdity..destroys the Credit of the Story. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended iii. 284 He is contradicted by other authors of better credit. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 259 The abstract philosophy of Cicero has lost its credit. 1847Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I. 332 His revelations destroy their credit by running into detail.
†b. Right to be believed; authority (on which testimony is accepted); esp. in phr. on the credit of. Obs.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 115 That his sickenesse was naturall..the credite of others as well as my selfe can testifie. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 126, I dare take it on the credit of an excellent witness. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 135 The above-mentioned inscription..rests only on Pighi's credit.
†c. letter of credit: a document recommending the bearer to confidence; = letter of credence.[See also 10 b.] 1582Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 2 a, Hee gaue them a Letter of credite. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 137 He despatch'd him away in a frigat with letters of credit. 1726–31Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. xvii. (1743) II. 99 The Duke..refused to give Ridolpho the Letters of credit which he desired for the Courts of Rome and Madrid.
†3. Something believed; a report. Obs. rare.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iv. iii. 6 There I found this credite, That he did range the towne to seeke me out.
†4. Trust, charge (to which something is committed, or which is committed to any one); = credence n. 5. Obs.
1549Cheke Hurt Sedit. (R.), Such offices of trust..as ye haue committed to another mans credit. 1581Lambarde Eiren. i. iii. (1602) 12 The Lord Chancellor..and euerie Iustice of the Kings Bench, haue (closed in their offices) a credit for conseruation of the peace. 1609Bible (Douay) Lev. vi. 2 The thing delivered to his custodie, which was committed to his credite. 1651Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 401 William Dowglas had the credite of the keyes.
5. The estimate in which the character of a person (or thing) is held; reputation, repute.
†a. gen. Obs.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 175 Such as have the name and credite of wise men. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 356 A deepe dissembler..whereby he purchased unto himselfe that credit, that he was not of any of his neighbour Princes..either beloved or trusted. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 290 Their Credit, be it good or bad, depends chiefly on the Successe and Event.
b. Usually in pregnant sense: Favourable estimation, good name, honour, reputation, repute.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 372 What credite and worshippe is wonne by learning. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1865) 22 At whiche tyme Chaucer was a grave manne, holden in greate credyt. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 149 They will be drunke..Nor is it..losse of credit with them. a1654Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 115 This they did to save their own credit. 1782Cowper Gilpin 2 John Gilpin was a citizen of credit and renown. 1886Froude Oceana ii. 33 The captain had his own and his ship's credit to maintain by a quick passage.
6. Personal influence based on the confidence of others; power derived from character or reputation.
1549Compl. Scot. xi. 87 He vas resauit rycht honorabilye, and gat gryt credit amang them. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 82 Very muche can you obteine of his friends, so good is your credite. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 68 To bringe him selfe into credit at Court. 1762Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) III. xlix. 765 Buckingham..resolved to employ all his credit in order to prevent the marriage. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. vii. (1857) 279 Granvelle..was not slow to perceive his loss of credit with the regent.
7. a. The honour or commendation bestowed on account of a particular action, personal quality, etc.; acknowledgement of merit. Const. of (an action, etc.).
1607Hieron Wks. I. 217 The Ephraimites were..offended with Gideon, because he called not them to the battell..they would have had the credit of it. 1681Ray Corr. (1848) 130, I would not have..you [deferred] the credit of your inventions. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) II. xl. 126 Promising him both the advantage and the credit of it, both the honour and the reward. 1876Mathews Coinage i. 8 The credit of inventing coined money has been claimed for the Persians. 1891Gardiner Hist. Gt. Civil War III. lxiv. 439 note, He never takes credit for any plan of the kind.
b. Phr. to do credit to: to bring honour to, cause to be commended. to be (much, etc.) to the credit of: to be creditable to; to be to the honour or praise of.
1761F. Sheridan S. Bidulph II. 172 [A treatment] that seemed to please him highly, as it did him credit in the presence of his lady. 1768Gray in Corr. w. Nicholls (1843) 82 Temple does himself much credit with me by this letter. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xxi, God grant that I may do credit to it. 1853Lytton My Novel iv. xiii, That your grandson should succeed in life, and do you credit. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 13 If it be ever so little to their credit. 1868Bright Sp. Ireland 1 Apr., That is greatly to the credit, not only of his head, but of his heart.
8. A source of commendation or honour; something creditable. (Now only with a and to.)
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 133 Making you to beleeve, that to become a roister is credit. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 117 This is much credit to you. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. i. §2 Conceiving it more credit..to go then to be driven away. 1706Hearne Collect. 8 Mar., He..may be a Credit to the College. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vi, You are a credit to the school. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. iv. (1878) 51 Even if it were a credit to me.
9. Comm.
a. Trust or confidence in a buyer's ability and intention to pay at some future time, exhibited by entrusting him with goods, etc. without present payment. Phr. to give credit; on (upon) credit; long credit, i.e. credit for a long period; six months' credit, etc.
1542–3Act 34–5 Hen. VIII, c. 4 Sundrie persons..consume the substance obteined by credite of other men. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 385 You are forced (because of credit and forbearaunce) to give a greater price. 1627Lisander & Cal. vii. 118 Having taken their meate and lodging with him upon credite [they] had gone away without paying. 1691Locke Wks. (1727) II. 71 Credit being..the Expectation of Money within some limited Time. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. xxvii. 272 He buys his wool..at two or three months' credit. Ibid. II. xxxii. 2 An entry of all goods sold out and received in upon credit. 1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. xxxi. (ed. 3) 324 That the purchasers of books take long credit. 1878Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 110 Any one who lends a thing gives credit, and he who borrows it receives credit.
fig.1781Johnson Let. Mrs. Thrale 14 Nov., One or two whom I hardly know I love upon credit. 1830Scott Jrnl. 26 June, Scottish audiences, who are certain not to give applause upon credit.
b. Reputation of solvency and probity in business, enabling a person or body to be trusted with goods or money in expectation of future payment.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 13 They..must keepe touch in all their paie: With credit crackt else for to liue. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 180 Try what my credit can in Venice doe. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 17 Frances the I..left his credite sound with the merchants, and readie money to his sonne. 1673Temple Let. to Dk. Ormond Wks. 1731 I. 124 For the Credit of the Exchequer..I fear it is irrecoverably lost by the last Breach with the Bankers. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) II. xlii. 143 Nothing is of more value to a tradesman than his credit. 1769Junius Lett. iii. 17 Public credit is threatened with a new debt. 1866Crump Banking i. 4. 1884 Standard 20 Mar. 4/8 The state of Egyptian credit affects..the relations of our rulers to the situation on the Nile.
10. a. A sum placed at a person's disposal in the books of a Bank, etc., upon which he may draw to the extent of the amount; any note, bill, or other document, on security of which a person may obtain funds.
1662Marvell Corr. xxxv. Wks. 1872–5 II. 80 Send us up a dormant credit for an hundred pound, which..we must have ready at hand. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 21 Then the Bank Credit that is to secure the Lender will be 200 thousand pounds. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 296 A letter..with a credit for the money. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 233 The testatrix gave..all her mortgages, bonds, specialties, and credits..to her nephew and niece. 1863H. Cox Inst. iii. vii. 688 An Exchequer warrant authorizing the Bank of England to grant credits..for the specified sum. 1883American VII. 166 The ready use as credits of warehouse receipts and bills of lading.
b. letter (bill, † ticket) of credit: a letter or document granted by a banking or financial establishment, authorizing the person in whose favour it is granted to draw money to a specified amount from their correspondents in other places.
1645Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 191, I took up ninety crowns for the rest of my journey, and letters of credit for Venice. 1655Digges Compl. Ambass. 345 Your Lordship..must..send into Italy a Bill of Credit for so much money as may defray his charge into England. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 11 Having one son at Venice, one at Noremberge, one at Hamburgh, and one at Dantzick, where Banks are, I desire four Tickets of Credit, each of them for a Thousand pounds. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. ii. App. (1852) 191 Had the government been settled..the Massachusetts bills of credit had been like the bank bills of Venice. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. lxxii, Furnished with money and bills of credit. 1809R. Langford Introd. Trade 32 Some Letters of Credit are called general, empowering the bearer in the course of his travels to apply to any of his employer's correspondents for..money.
11. Parliament. A sum on account, which the Administration is empowered by vote of Parliament to borrow and expend in anticipation of the amount voted in the Annual Estimates. Hence vote of credit.
1854Ld. Russell in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. CXXXV. 598, I rise for the purpose of asking the Committee to agree to a Vote of 3,000,000l. in Supply, usually denominated a Vote of Credit. 1863Cox Inst. Govt. 198 The practice of voting supplies of credit from time to time. 1883Daily News 31 Oct. 5/4 That, owing to Ministerial duplicity, insufficient credits had been voted.
12. Book-keeping.
a. The acknowledgement of payment by entry in an account. to enter (put) to a person's credit: to acknowledge in this way any value received from him.
b. (with pl.) A sum entered on the credit or right-hand side of an account; this side itself (abbreviated Cr.).
1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. ii. 14 And give credit in account current to your humble servant. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 15/2 There are debits and credits between them in Bolaukee Doss's books to a great amount. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 163/1 The amount of each entry has been carried forward..to the credit of each payer. 1868Hamilton & Ball Bookkeeping (1886) 17 He finds that the total of the debits exceeds the total of the credits by {pstlg}10. 1889Cassell's Pop. Educ. II. 187/1 This equality of debit and credit is the..universal principle of complete book⁓keeping.
13. a. to give a person credit for something: (a) to trust a person for the future fulfilment of something expected or due from him (obs.); to ascribe (a quality) to him on trust, to put it to his account in one's estimate of him; (b) to acknowledge that it is due to him; to ascribe the merit of it to him; (c) to enter (a sum) to his credit in his account; = credit v. 7.
1769Junius Lett. xxxv. 155 They..gave you a generous credit for the future blessings of your reign. 1774T. Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. App. 141 Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. iv, [They] give her credit for sincerity. 1845Hood Tale of Trumpet xiv, And as for the clock..The Dame only gave it credit for ticking. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, I give you credit for the scheme. Ibid. xxv, It will be the advice of a sincere friend; you will give me credit for that. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. i. 15 He gives no credit to kings or emperors for any other motive.
b. An entry in the record of a pupil or student certifying that he or she has qualified in some course of study. U.S.
1904E. G. Dexter Hist. Educ. U.S. 288 On the basis of ‘credits’, one credit representing a subject pursued daily..for one year in the secondary schools, forty-five credits is the usual requirement. 1963R. I. McDavid Mencken's Amer. Lang. vi. 292 An English university student..knows nothing of frats, class days, rushes, credits, points, majors, semesters.
c. In full pass-with-credit. A kind of ‘distinction’ awarded in some examinations to examinees obtaining more than a certain percentage of the maximum marks in a subject.
1917Regul. Oxf. & Camb. Schools Exam. Board 49 Candidates who attain a sufficiently high standard in one or more of the subjects comprised in the several Divisions will be awarded a pass-with-credit in each of those subjects. 1963Barnard & Lauwerys Handbk. Brit. Educ. Terms 72 Credit, a mark above the average standard in the now obsolete School Certificate Examination.
d. Theatr., Cinemat., Broadcasting, etc. The acknowledgement by name, with details of the service rendered, of each individual contributor (actor, producer, etc.) to a production or the like, usually published in a programme or on the screen; freq. in pl. Hence credit line, credit list, etc.; credit title (see quot. 1933). Also transf.
1914Writer's Mag. Feb. 44/2 The Photoplaywright should have equal prominence in credit line with the staff writer of the new story. 1922Moving Picture Stories 7 July 22/2 The introductory titles give her screen credits for both the original story and the continuity. 1926Atlantic Monthly June 765/1, I wrote a yarn that a clock..had ‘stopped at the fatal hour’. This was reprinted, without credit and without investigation, all over that part of the country. 1933C. Winchester World Film Encycl. 481/1 Credit titles, the names on the screen of the technicians responsible for the scenario, sound, art direction etc. 1934H. N. Rose Thes. Slang vii. 50/2 Line below a picture giving the name of the photographer, the credit line. 1937H. G. Wells Brynhild v. 59 A fellow who had something to do with building the sets, committed suicide, simply..because he was mortified by not being given a credit—credits they call 'em—on the screen. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 100 In the early days [of wireless] there were advertisements, later commercial announcements, plain commercials or plugs, now often simply credits. 1941A. W. Read Let. 5 June in Amer. Speech (1964) XXXIX. 255 The suspicion that members of the staff may think that I contributed the material in order to wiggle my way into a credit line in the DAE. 1952W. Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 53 Credit list, the list of acknowledgements of indebtedness to firms who have lent articles of furniture, electrical gear, draperies, etc., to dress the stage. Credits, the credit list. 1955‘G. Carr’ Corpse at Camp Two ii. 23 On D.-G.P.'s ‘credit’ titles he appeared as ‘Dem Nixon’, which..was his professional name as a film cameraman. 1958Punch 1 Jan. 80/1, I am old enough to remember a time when a television play began with a title, a stream of credits and a splurge of mood music and then proceeded to discharge its burden of drama. 1958New Statesman 12 July 47/1 This superb piece of radio..is ‘by’ Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker; but one would like to give a long credit-list of all involved in it. 1962Guardian 15 Feb. 6/4 The talks producers..do not get credit lines [in the Radio Times] for their work.
14. attrib. and Comb. (mostly in the technical senses 9–11), as credit balance, credit customer, credit entry, credit item, credit side (of an account), credit system, credit ticket; credit card orig. U.S., a card issued by an organization authorizing a named person to draw on its account or to make purchases on credit; formerly also a traveller's cheque; credit-draper, a ‘travelling’ draper who delivers goods on credit; credit insurance, insurance against bad debts; credit letter, a letter of credit (see 10 b); credit man U.S., a clerk who has charge of the credit accounts in a business; credit rating, the assessment (e.g. by a hire-purchase company) of the ability and intention of a customer to meet his liabilities; credit sale, a method of purchase by delayed payment, the total cost of the goods usually being paid off within a stipulated time; credit squeeze, the restriction of financial credit facilities through banks etc.; also as v.; credit transfer, a method of payment by which a debtor's bank, etc., on his instructions, will transfer the amount owed to the account of his creditor, whether in the same or another bank; credit union orig. U.S., a co-operative association providing loans to its members at low interest rates in return for the use of their pooled savings; credit-worthy a., † (a) worthy of credit or belief, trustworthy; (b) qualified to receive commercial credit; hence credit-worthiness, the extent to which a person, firm, etc., is allowed such credit.
1942C. S. Lewis Screwtape Lett. ii. 18 He still believes he has run up a very favourable credit-balance in the Enemy's ledger by allowing himself to be converted.
1888E. Bellamy Looking Backward xiii. 200 An American credit card..is just as good in Europe as American gold used to be, and on..the same condition, namely, that it be exchanged into the currency of the country you are travelling in. 1958Oxf. Mail 29 Oct. 4/5 In America credit has become the lubricant of the retail trade... Lately there has even been the development of ‘credit cards’ that depend upon ‘credit ratings’. Armed with a credit card, the prized certificate of the ‘credit worthy’, an American can have meals, buy clothes, stay at hotels—all on credit. 1960G. Greene Burnt-out Case vi. i. 191 ‘Is there a seat on that plane too?..’ He gave the man his credit-card. 1962E. S. Gardner Case of Demure Defendant x. 116 Jackson Newburn was buying gas on a credit card. 1970Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 4/6 The United States Senate has voted to end the mailing of unsolicited credit cards.
1877Cassell's Family Mag. Nov. 631/1 By trade a tally-man, or, as he styled himself, a credit-draper. 1903Daily Chron. 17 Oct. 7/7 A case of considerable importance to travelling and credit drapers was decided at the Thames Police Court yesterday.
1849Freese Comm. Class-bk. 109 The Journal is ruled to receive the debit and credit entries, into separate columns.
1925Daily Tel. 13 May 4/4 A good deal of attention has been drawn during the past year to what is known as credit insurance. 1929Encycl. Brit. VI. 655/1 If it is worth a trader's while to accept a risk then a credit insurance company will generally undertake a proportion unless the transaction is obviously a gamble. 1953Economist 9 May 379/1 Credit insurance, as it now operates, is essentially a post-1918 development.
1875Poste Gaius iv. §64 The banker..allows for any credit-items.
1903A. Adams Log Cowboy ii. 22 Your credit letter is good anywhere you need supplies.
1880Bradstreet's 28 Feb. 2/3 The credit-man of a large dry goods jobbing house stated that..not one in five hundred gave them notes. 1915Lit. Digest (N.Y.) 21 Aug. 377/3 Big order comes in from Jones & Co. Everybody pleased—except that office kill-joy, the credit man.
1958Credit rating [see credit card above]. 1960Spectator 2 Dec. 883 Seven important hire-purchase companies decided to set up a joint ‘credit-rating’ list, or directory of bad payers.
1958Which? I. iii. 8/1 The credit sale system has grown fast in recent years... Goods bought on credit sale belong to the buyer as soon as the first payment is made. 1965Spectator 8 Jan. 52/3 A finance house specialising in motor trade loans is offering credit sale instead of h.p.
1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. iv. 78 Set..on the credit side of the account. 1892Scot. Leader 8 Jan. 2 The borrowings still appear on the credit side. 1935Discovery May 154/1 On the credit side..he [sc. Bergson] lays the main stress on the historical, biological, and evolutionary standpoint in discussing both moral and religious questions. 1937D. L. Sayers Zeal of Thy House 38 These are debts; What shall I set upon the credit side?
1955Times 18 July 15/1 As early as last February I applied a little of the curb—what is sometimes called the credit squeeze. 1957Britannica Bk. of Year 511/2 A verb-form to credit-squeeze, to restrict investment or speculation by reducing financial credits. 1962H. O. Beecheno Introd. Bus. Stud. xiv. 138 ‘Credit squeezes’—i.e. making it more difficult to obtain loans from banks and, perhaps, restricting hire purchase business... This check can be applied selectively.
1880McCarthy Own Time IV. liv. 176 They..saw that the credit system leads to almost incessant litigation.
1866Crump Banking iii. 82 Bankers always furnish to their customers printed forms, called ‘credit tickets,’ which are divided into different heads, and should be filled up and taken to the bank with the cheques.
1965New Scientist 1 Apr. 14/1 He can transfer his money in one of two ways: by credit transfer or debit transfer (or cheque). 1966J. S. G. Wilson Monetary Policy vi. 87 Other innovations included a credit transfer system that went some way towards providing the giro arrangements so popular on the Continent of Europe.
1881Atlantic Monthly Feb. 207/1 The credit-unions, founded and managed by a warm-hearted humanitarian for the purpose of elevating the moral and material welfare of entire classes of society. 1915Survey 6 Feb. 475/2 Most students of credit unionism agree that credit unions should be a spontaneous expression of co-operative spirit on the part of those forming them. 1945Christian Cent. 8 Aug. 916/3 ‘The finest credit union in the United States,’ is how Roy F. Bergengren..describes the Light of Tyrrell credit union at Columbia, N.C. 1983Times 30 July 13/1 Credit unions are well established in North America, New Zealand and Northern Ireland, but in England and Wales they have started to take strong root only since the passage of the Credit Unions Act 1979.
1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 38 Pliny..had..red in credit worthy autores that Cypros was Ligustrum. 1639Fuller Holy War i. ix. (1840) 15 Reported by credit-worthy writers. 1940Economist 5 Oct. 431/1 Every bank manager will sincerely testify to his liking for farmers' loans—provided the borrower is credit worthy. Ibid. 431/2 The guaranteed prices which the farmers were granted..removed at one stroke the credit worthiness of the industry. 1960Times 22 Jan. 20/2 The Banks..are increasingly interested in offering accommodation to credit-worthy farmers. 1963Times 13 June 19/2 Creditworthiness of individual developing countries was also a major theme of discussions at the Taormina meeting.
▸ credit note n. a document expressing the indebtedness of the issuing body to the recipient; spec. a receipt given by a shop to a customer who has returned goods, which can be offset against future purchases.
1838Times 13 Nov. 1/5 The circulation of ‘*credit notes’ (billets de credit) or promissory paper bearing interest, and after date, was also progressing. 1931D. Mackail Square Circle xi. 376 It was delightful enough when her new bankers sent her a credit note for nearly three hundred pounds. 1981Manch. Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 15 Feb. 4 Finally, after lengthy transactions with assistants and managers, she was given a credit note for the amount. 2000Sunday Times 23 July (Money section) 6/5 It is always the seller, not the manufacturer, who is liable for faulty goods. And, there is no need to settle for a credit note, you can demand your money back.
▪ II. credit, v.|ˈkrɛdɪt|
Also 6 credyte, -itt, 6–7 credite.
[f. credit n.: cf. mod.F. créditer (not in Cotgr. 1611, in Savary 1723). The vb. may however have been formed, without the intervention of the n., directly on L. crēdit- ppl. stem of crēdĕre to believe, as the Eng. repr. of the latter; it was app. so treated in 16–17th c.]
1. trans. To give credit to, put faith in, believe, trust (a statement, person, or thing).
1548Gest Pr. Masse 84 God..graunt us all to learne, love, credyte and maynteyne hys truth. 1567Triall Treas. (1850) 35 Credite not those..that talke that and this. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 171 That the fame of the accident might..be the better credited. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 356 They are..civil in peace, fierce in war; deceitful if too much credited. 1758Johnson Idler No. 17 ⁋2, I..am content to credit my senses. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 644 The report of William's death was..credited. 1875Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. v. (ed. 5) 61 If we may credit Theophanes.
†b. intr. To give credit to. Obs.
1557North tr. Gueuara's Diall Pr. 216 b/2 Crediting..to such hie doctrine. 1655Orrery Parthenissa (1676) 180 If you will credit to a profession which my actions seem to contradict.
†2. trans.
a. To entrust (a person with a thing).
1581Lambarde Eiren. iv. iii. (1588) 384 That he which is put in trust with the rest of the Records, should be credited with the custodie of the Commission. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 8 More then once I have bin credited with ten times the value of that at your hands. 1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 683 (R.) Whome your especiall trust and fauour hath credited and graced with this employment. 1748Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VII. 397 If I can get some good family to credit me with a sister or a daughter..I will..marry.
†b. (a thing to a person). Obs.
1559Scot in Strype Ann. Ref. I. ii. App. vii. 18 Contynue in those thinges which thou hast learned, and which be credited unto thee. 1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 93 This office [Sergeant Maior] was credited vnto none. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxii. (1739) 126 That the smaller Free-holds should be of too high esteem to be credited to such Conveyances. 1662Gauden in Chr. Wordsworth Doc. Supplement (1825) 34 It seems a good omen..that my concernes should bee credited to soe generous a brest.
†3.
a. To trust (a person) with goods or money on the faith of future payment; to supply with goods on credit. Obs.
1541Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 15 Strangers..vsed to credit and truste the poore inhabitauntes..which.. had not redy money. 1574in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 354 No man will credit or truste a banckerowte. 1667Duchess of Newcastle Life of Duke (1886) 98 My Lord..was credited by the citizens for as many goods as he was pleased to have. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 163 Persons, who..are industrious Men, and can be credited. 1754J. Shebbeare Matrimony (1766) I. 40 That ready Money from a Tobacconist's Wife is equal to the Honour of crediting a Dutchess.
†b. to credit out: to lend or let out on credit.
1595Maroccus Ext. 5 Not to credit out his wares to anie man. 1601Holland Pliny I. 29 How faithfully..doth she [the earth] repay with vsury that which was lent and credited out vnto her!
†4. To secure belief or credit for, to accredit.
1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. iv, Our next endeauor is..to credit that [report] With all the countenance wee can. 1664Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 19 If a Writer endevours, by delivering new..Observations or Experiments, to credit his Opinions.
5. To bring into credit, repute, or estimation; to reflect credit upon, do credit to. Now rare or arch.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 106, I call them forth to credit her. 1615J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2) 43 They seeke..to credit their owne Colledge. 1623Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 198 That my actions might credit my profession. 1710Palmer Proverbs 242 Smatterers in science..neither instruct the company, nor credit themselves. 1793W. Roberts Looker-on No. 55 That sanctity of morals, under which the marriage state is sure to be credited and promoted. 1880World 26 May, Some will burst into leaf, and credit the care and attention of the husbandman.
6. Book-keeping. To enter on or carry to the credit side of an account. Const. to credit an amount to a person, or a person with an amount.
1682J. Scarlett Exchanges 237 A wise Creditor will..presently upon the Receipt thereof, credit his account of Goods, and debit his account currant for the Value. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4706/2 The Ballance..has been duly credited to the Publick. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 621 An universal bank, wherein accounts are regularly kept, and every man debited or credited for the least farthing he takes out or brings in. 1868Hamilton & Ball Book-keeping (1886) 4 To enter on the Cr. side..[is called] to credit the account. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 110 Of this nett income, a part..must be credited to our second division of the endowment fund, as an outlay on education. 1883Law Rep. 11 Q. Bench Div. 565 Entries were made..crediting Stoney with 1630l. and Armitage with 800l.
7. fig. to credit (something) to a person, or a person with something: to give him credit for it, ‘put it down to his account’, ascribe it to him.
1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxv, The world which credits what is done Is cold to all that might have been. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vii. (1891) 159 Some excellent remarks were made on immortality, but mainly borrowed from and credited to Plato. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. ii. ii. (1881) 114 The famines of India [etc.]..can no more be credited to over-population than [etc.]. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. iii. 27 To credit him with a desire to reform the Church.
Hence ˈcredited ppl. a., ˈcrediting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxxiv. 301 For the better crediting whereof, they..wrote their Letters. 1653Manton Exp. James i. 21 There is an act of faith, the crediting and believing faculty is stirred up. 1790H. More Relig. Fash. World (ed. 2) 153 That once credited promise, that ‘they who have done well shall go into everlasting life’. |