VOOZH

URL: https://www.etymonline.com/word/creed

⇱ Creed - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of creed

creed(n.)

Middle English crede, from Old English creda "article or statement of Christian belief, confession of faith," from Latin credo "I believe" (see credo).

The sense broadened 17c. to mean "a statement of belief on any subject." The meaning "what is believed, accepted doctrine" is from 1610s. Related: Creedal.

A Creed, or Rule of Faith, or Symbol, is a confession of faith for public use, or a form of words setting forth with authority certain articles of belief, which are regarded by the framers as necessary for salvation, or at least for the well-being of the Christian Church. [Philip Schaff, "The Creeds of Christendom," 1877]

Entries linking to creed

early 13c., "the Creed in the Church service," from Latin credo "I believe," the first word of the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, first person singular present indicative of credere "to believe," from PIE compound *kerd-dhe- "to believe," literally "to put one's heart" (source also of Old Irish cretim, Irish creidim, Welsh credu "I believe," Sanskrit śrad-dhā- "faith, confidence, devotion"), from PIE root *kerd- "heart." The nativized form is creed. General sense of "formula or statement of belief" is from 1580s.

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "heart."

It might form all or part of: accord; cardiac; cardio-; concord; core; cordial; courage; credence; credible; credit; credo; credulous; creed; discord; grant; heart; incroyable; megalocardia; miscreant; myocardium; pericarditis; pericardium; quarry (n.1) "what is hunted;" record; recreant; tachycardia.

It might also be the source of: Greek kardia, Latin cor, Armenian sirt, Old Irish cride, Welsh craidd, Hittite kir, Lithuanian širdis, Russian serdce, Old English heorte, German Herz, Gothic hairto, "heart;" Breton kreiz "middle;" Old Church Slavonic sreda "middle."

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

More to explore

Old English godspel "glad tidings announced by Jesus; one of the four gospels," literally "good spell," from god "good" (see good (adj.)) + spel "story, message" (see spell (n.1)). A translation of Latin bona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of Greek euangelion "reward for bring

early 15c., "creed, summary, religious belief," from Late Latin symbolum "creed, token, mark," from Greek symbolon "token...sign by which one infers; ticket, a permit, licence" (the word was applied c. 250 by Cyprian of Carthage to the Apostles' Creed...

mid-15c., persecuten, "to oppress for the holding of an opinion or adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship," from...

"favoring or supporting revision" (of a creed, law, etc.) is from 1850; as a noun from 1854 in reference to one who favors...

"one who changes from one sect, creed, etc. to another," late 14c., proselite, "a convert, especially "a heathen convert...

Meaning "state of being convinced" is from 1530s; that of "religious belief, creed" is from 1620s....

By 1834 as "one who professes the creed that a person's highest duty is to advance the welfare of the human race," but the...

"principle, opinion, or dogma maintained as true by a person, sect, school, etc.," properly "a thing held (to be true)," early 15c., from Latin tenet "he holds," third person singular present indicative of tenere "to hold, grasp, keep, have possession, maintain," also "reach, gai

"a settled opinion, a principle held as being firmly established," c. 1600 (in plural dogmata), from Latin dogma "philosophical tenet," from Greek dogma (genitive dogmatos) "opinion, tenet," literally "that which one thinks is true," from dokein "to seem good, think" (from PIE ro

late 13c., "last will disposing of property," from Latin testamentum "a last will, publication of a will," from testari "make a will, be witness to," from testis "witness," from PIE *tri-st-i- "third person standing by," from root *tris- "three" (see three) on the notion of "thir

Share creed

Page URL:

HTML Link:

APA Style:

Chicago Style:

MLA Style:

IEEE Style:

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trending

Dictionary entries near creed

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z