credence

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman credenz, also credensse, or Middle French credence,^[2][3][4] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin crēdentia (“belief, trust”),^{[2][5][6][7][8]} from Latin crēdēns (“believing”), the present participle of crēdō (“to believe, trust”),^[7][5][9][8] with the suffix -ia.^[2] Merriam-Webster traces the medieval word to an assumed Vulgar Latin *crēdentia.^[4] In Anglo-Norman the noun is recorded from 1323–1325, for trustworthiness, a message carried by the bearer of a letter, and credentials;^[3][2] in Medieval Latin it had meant a safe conduct (8th century), a security or solemn promise, and later commercial credit and belief.^[2] The table senses were probably influenced by Italian credenza,^[2][10] and the American Heritage Dictionary links the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-.^[7] It is related to credit, creed and credential.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belief or trust, about 1338, in Mannyng's Chronicle of England;^[5] Etymonline dates the word to the mid 14th century.^[6] The OED's first record, from about 1390, has the sense of trustworthiness or good reputation, and belief follows before 1393 in Gower.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Beside belief in what others say, credence came to mean something that gives a claim to belief, chiefly a diplomat's letter of credence (1424), now its only use in that sense.^[2][4] A second branch grew from serving food: the tasting of food and drink before it was served, as a precaution against poison (before 1475), and then the side table or sideboard where the dishes stood (1567).^[2][10] Weekley explains the sideboard sense from that practice of "assaying" meat and drink so as to inspire confidence against poison.^[11] In church use the word was applied in 1705 to the small side table near the altar where the bread and wine are placed before consecration, the credence table of the 19th century.^[2][10] Johnson (1755) gave "belief; credit" first, quoting Spenser.^[12] A verb credence, to believe, is recorded from before 1529, in Skelton.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1338 – belief, trust.^[5]
• c. 1390 – trustworthiness, credit, good reputation.^[2]
• before 1393 – acceptance of something as true, in Gower.^[2]
• 1424 – a document giving a claim to confidence; a letter of credence.^[2]
• c. 1450 – plausibility, credibility.^[2]
• before 1475 – the tasting of food before serving, against poison (obsolete).^[2]
• before 1529 – verb, to believe, in Skelton.^[2]
• 1567 – a sideboard for dishes ready to be served.^[2][10]
• 1705 – a side table near the altar for the Eucharistic elements.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Acceptance of something as true; belief: Few historians give credence to the legend.^{[13][4][2][14]}
2. The quality of being believable; credibility, trustworthiness: The new figures lend credence to her theory.^[4][2]
3. letters of credence: the credentials of an ambassador or envoy.^[13][4][2]
4. A small side table near the altar for the bread and wine of the Eucharist; a credence table.^[13][2][10]
5. A sideboard or buffet, especially an ornate one of the Renaissance.^[4][2]
6. (obsolete) The tasting of food or drink before serving it, as a guard against poison.^[2][10]

Word family

• noncredence

Related words

• credential
• credibility
• credenza
• credit
• creed
• credo
• credent
• credulous

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press