Etymologically
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credo

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Pronunciation

Forms

credo m (invariable, Wiktionary also gives the plural credi)[2][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin crēdō (“I believe”), the first person singular present of the Latin verb behind credere, the word that opens the Apostles' Creed.[3][4][5] GRADIT names the opening of the liturgical formula “Credo in unum Deum”.[2] DEI calls it a learned word from Church Latin.[6] REW notes that it passed from the Mass into the spoken languages, as in Ladin kraidum from “credo in unum”.[7] The word is French credo from the 13th century.[8][6]

The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁-, “to place one's heart”, that is, to trust or believe.[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Andrea da Grosseto, in Tuscany in 1268, in the phrase Credo in Dio, the declaration of the articles of the Christian faith.[10][4] DELI's first record is in Domenico Cavalca, before 1342.[3][2] GDLI quotes him on the articles of the faith, which “si contengono sommamente in nel Credo” (are contained above all in the Creed).[8]

Semantic evolution

Cavalca already distinguished the Credo maggiore, the Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed, from the Credo minore, the Apostles' Creed.[8] The time needed to recite it became a measure of time: in un credo means “in a moment”, as Portuguese em um credo does.[6][7][2] The figurative sense, “a set of ideas and principles, political, moral or artistic”, is recorded in 1798 in a translation of La Harpe;[3] the French word took this sense in 1794.[8]

Timeline

  • 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto writes Credo in Dio.[10]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses Credo for the creed.[3]
  • 1798 – The sense “set of principles” in a translation of La Harpe.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (religion) The Creed, the formula summing up the main truths of the Christian faith: il coro ha cantato il Credo in latino.[2][3][1]
  2. The part of the Mass in which it is recited.[2]
  3. The fundamental doctrines of a religion.[2]
  4. The set of a person's or a group's convictions: il suo credo politico non è mai cambiato.[2][3]

Usage notes

Credo is also the first person singular present of credere, “I believe”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1149
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 949
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it