credenza

Forms

credenza f (plural credenze)^[1] Old forms are Old Italian credanza and Old Italian credenzia.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin credentia (“belief”), from Latin crēdēns, the present participle of crēdō (“to entrust, believe”).^{[4][5][6][7][1]} Meyer-Lübke set up Vulgar Latin *credentia behind the Romance words: Romanian credință (“faithfulness”), French créance and croyance, Spanish creencia and Portuguese crença.^[8][9] Sabatini–Coletti instead derives it within Italian: it is from Italian credere + -enza.^[10][1]

The sense “sideboard” grew out of the old custom of tasting food and drink before they were served to a lord, to assure him that they were not poisoned, called making or giving the credenza.^{[4][11][12][6]} From the tasting the word passed to the array of dishes on the serving table and then to the piece of furniture that held them.^[4][11] Medieval Latin credentia meant a cupboard at Venice in 1339 and at Modena in the 14th century.^[13][11] Wiktionary instead explains the furniture sense from the small church table that holds the vessels for Communion.^[1]

Latin crēdō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁- (“to place in the heart”).^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the poems of Rinaldo d'Aquino, early in the 13th century, with the sense “belief, opinion”: né ò credenza (“nor do I believe”).^[13][2] Giacomo da Lentini has the form credanza.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word also meant esteem and trust, in Odo delle Colonne, and in Dante, from 1304–1308, religious faith and doctrine.^[13][15] It was used for commercial credit (vendere a credenza, to sell on credit), for a secret (tenere in credenza), and in the medieval communes the consiglio di credenza was the council that assisted the consuls in confidential business.^[16][7][17] The tasting of food before serving is recorded before 1373.^[15] Cellini writes that he would eat nothing unless someone first made the credenza of it.^[16]

The cupboard is first recorded in Italian in Agnolo Firenzuola, 1518–1525, who turned upside down what was on the tables and the credenza, glasses and flasks.^[13][18] In the Catholic liturgy it is also the small table in the presbytery for the vessels of the Mass.^[5][6]

The furniture sense spread abroad: French crédence is recorded for the cupboard in 1519 and German Kredenz in the 15th century, and English took credenza for a sideboard in 1880.^[15][19] English credence had gone through the same development from tasting food to the side table it was placed on.^[19]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Rinaldo d'Aquino uses credenza for belief.^[13]
• 13th century – The sense “esteem, trust” appears in Odo delle Colonne.^[13]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the word for religious faith.^[13][15]
• 1339 – Medieval Latin credentia means a cupboard at Venice.^[13]
• Before 1373 – The word is recorded for the tasting of food before serving.^[15]
• 1518–1525 – Agnolo Firenzuola uses credenza for a cupboard.^[13]
• 1519 – French crédence is recorded for the cupboard.^[15]
• 1880 – English credenza is first recorded.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. belief, opinion: è mia ferma credenza che….^[5][16]
2. A traditional or popular belief, often a superstitious one: le credenze dei contadini.^[5][6][10]
3. Religious belief, faith.^[5][6][16]
4. (uncommon) Credibility, trust: meritare credenza;^[6][10][16] lettere di credenza, credentials.^[6][10][16]
5. (dated) Commercial credit: comprare a credenza.^[6][10][7]
6. (obsolete) The tasting of food and drink before serving them to an important person, to show that they were not poisoned.^[5][6][16]
7. (obsolete) Secrecy;^[5][16][17] consiglio di credenza, in the medieval communes, a council that assisted the consuls in confidential matters.^[5][16][17]
8. (furniture) A sideboard or kitchen cupboard for crockery, cutlery and food, often with a glazed upper part.^[5][6][10]
9. (archaic) The food served to guests at a feast or reception.^[5][6]
10. (liturgy) A credence table, the small table in the presbytery for the objects used at Mass.^[5][6]

Word family

• credenziale
• credenziere
• credenzina

Related words

• credere
• credito
• French crédence
• credenza

Usage notes

Most modern dictionaries treat the cupboard as a second headword, credenza², derived from the first.^{[5][6][10][12]} In modern furnishing the cupboard is often called buffet.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1149
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b c d e f g Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
18. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 942
19. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com