Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CRED'IT, n. [Fr. credit; It. credito; Sp. id.; L. creditum. See Creed.]

1. Belief; faith; a reliance or resting of the mind on the truth of something said or done. We give credit to a man's declaration, when the mind rests on the truth of it, without doubt or suspicion, which is attended with wavering. We give credit to testimony or to a report, when we rely on its truth and certainty.
2. Reputation derived from the confidence of others. Esteem; estimation; good opinion founded on belief of a man's veracity, integrity, abilities and virtue; as, a physician in high credit with his brethren. Hence,
3. Honor; reputation; estimation; applied to men or things. A man gains no credit by profaneness; and a poem may lose no credit by criticism. The credit of a man depends on his virtues; the credit of his writings, on their worth.
4. That which procures or is entitled to belief; testimony; authority derived from one's character, or from the confidence of others. We believe a story on the credit of the narrator. We believe in miracles on the credit of inspired men. We trust to the credit of an assertion, made by a man of known veracity.
5. Influence derived from the reputation of veracity or integrity, or from the good opinion or confidence of others; interest; power derived from weight of character, from friendship, fidelity or other cause. A minister may have great credit with a prince. He may employ his credit to good or evil purposes. A man uses his credit with a friend; a servant, with his master.
6. In commerce, trust; transfer of goods in confidence of future payment. When the merchant gives a credit, he sells his wares on an expressed or implied promise that the purchaser will pay for them at a future time. The seller believes in the solvability and probity of the purchaser, and delivers his goods on that belief or trust; or he delivers them on the credit or reputation of the purchaser. The purchasers takes what is sold, on credit. In like manner, money is loaned on the credit of the borrower.
7. The capacity of being trusted; or the reputation of solvency and probity which entitles a man to be trusted. A customer has good credit or no credit with a merchant.
8. In book-keeping, the side of an account in which payment is entered; opposed to debit. This article is carried to one's credit, and that to his debit. We speak of the credit side of an account.
9. Public credit, the confidence which men entertain in the ability and disposition of a nation, to make good its engagements with its creditors; or the estimation in which individuals hold the public promises of payment, whether such promises are expressed or implied. The term is also applied to the general credit of individuals in a nation; when merchants and others are wealthy, and punctual in fulfilling engagements; or when they transact business with honor and fidelity; or when transfers of property are made with ease for ready payment. So we speak of the credit of a bank, when general confidence is placed in its ability to redeem its notes; and the credit of a mercantile house rests on its supposed ability and probity, which induce men to trust to its engagements. When the public credit is questionable, it raises the premium on loans. Cherish public credit. – Washington.
10. The notes or bills which are issued by the public or by corporations or individuals, which circulate on the confidence of men in the ability and disposition in those who issue them, to redeem them. They are sometimes called bills of credit.
11. The time given for payment for lands or goods sold on trust; as, a long credit, or a short credit.
12. A sum of money due to any person; any thing valuable standing on the creditor side of an account. A. has a credit on the books of B. The credits are more than balanced by the debits. [In this sense the word has the plural number.]