¹credit

belief, faith, credence, credit mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance. belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer <my belief that I had caught all the errors>. faith almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof <an unshakable faith in God>. credence suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent <a theory now given credence by scientists>. credit may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof <gave full credit to the statement of a reputable witness>.

influence, authority, prestige, weight, credit mean power exerted over the minds or behavior of others. influence may apply to a force exercised and received consciously or unconsciously <used her influence to get the bill passed>. authority implies the power of winning devotion or allegiance or of compelling acceptance and belief <his opinions lacked authority>. prestige implies the ascendancy given by conspicuous excellence or reputation for superiority <the prestige of the newspaper>. weight implies measurable or decisive influence in determining acts or choices <their wishes obviously carried much weight>. credit suggests influence that arises from the confidence of others <his credit with the press>.

ascribe, attribute, assign, impute, credit mean to lay something to the account of a person or thing. ascribe suggests an inferring or conjecturing of cause, quality, authorship <forged paintings formerly ascribed to masters>. attribute suggests less tentativeness than ascribe , less definiteness than assign <attributed to Rembrandt but possibly done by an associate>. assign implies ascribing with certainty or after deliberation <assigned the bones to the Cretaceous period>. impute suggests ascribing something that brings discredit by way of accusation or blame <tried to impute sinister motives to my actions>. credit implies ascribing a thing or especially an action to a person or other thing as its agent, source, or explanation <credited his teammates for his success>.

The Latin word credere, meaning “to believe,” gives us the root cred. Words from the Latin credere have something to do with believing someone or something. Something credible is easy to believe, while something incredible is so out of the ordinary that it is difficult to believe. Giving credit to something someone says is believing that it is true.