Cred"it (kr&ebreve;d"&ibreve;t), n.
[F. crédit (cf. It. credito), L.
creditum loan, prop. neut. of creditus, p. p. of
credere to trust, loan, believe. See Creed.]
1. Reliance on the truth of something said
or done; belief; faith; trust; confidence.
When Jonathan and the people heard these words
they gave no credit unto them, nor received them.
1 Macc. x. 46.
2. Reputation derived from the confidence
of others; esteem; honor; good name; estimation.
John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown.
Cowper.
3. A ground of, or title to, belief or
confidence; authority derived from character or
reputation.
The things which we properly believe, be only such
as are received on the credit of divine testimony.
Hooker.
4. That which tends to procure, or add
to, reputation or esteem; an honor.
I published, because I was told I might please
such as it was a credit to please.
Pope.
5. Influence derived from the good
opinion, confidence, or favor of others; interest.
Having credit enough with his master to
provide for his own interest.
Clarendon.
6. (Com.) Trust given or received;
expectation of future playment for property transferred, or of
fulfillment or promises given; mercantile reputation entitling
one to be trusted; -- applied to individuals, corporations,
communities, or nations; as, to buy goods on
credit.
Credit is nothing but the expectation of
money, within some limited time.
Locke.
7. The time given for payment for lands
or goods sold on trust; as, a long credit or a short
credit.
8. (Bookkeeping) The side of an
account on which are entered all items reckoned as values
received from the party or the category named at the head of the
account; also, any one, or the sum, of these items; -- the
opposite of debit; as, this sum is carried to one's
credit, and that to his debit; A has several
credits on the books of B.
Bank credit, or Cash
credit. See under Cash. -- Bill
of credit. See under Bill. --
Letter of credit, a letter or notification
addressed by a banker to his correspondent, informing him that
the person named therein is entitled to draw a certain sum of
money; when addressed to several different correspondents, or
when the money can be drawn in fractional sums in several
different places, it is called a circular letter of
credit. -- Public credit.
(a) The reputation of, or general confidence
in, the ability or readiness of a government to fulfill its
pecuniary engagements. (b) The ability
and fidelity of merchants or others who owe largely in a
community.
He touched the dead corpse of Public
Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
D. Webster.
Cred"it (kr&ebreve;d"&ibreve;t), v.
t. [imp. & p. p. Credited;
p. pr. & vb. n. Crediting.]
1. To confide in the truth of; to give
credence to; to put trust in; to believe.
How shall they credit
A poor unlearned virgin?
Shak.
2. To bring honor or repute upon; to do
credit to; to raise the estimation of.
You credit the church as much by your
government as you did the school formerly by your wit.
South.
3. (Bookkeeping) To enter upon the
credit side of an account; to give credit for; as, to
credit the amount paid; to set to the credit of; as, to
credit a man with the interest paid on a bond.
To credit with, to give credit for; to
assign as justly due to any one.
Crove, Helmholtz, and Meyer, are more than any
others to be credited with the clear enunciation of this
doctrine.
Newman.
