credit [E16th] People first used the word credit (ultimately from Latin credere ‘to believe or trust’) to mean ‘belief’ and ‘trustworthiness’. The modern sense soon developed in the mid 16th century from the idea of, say, a shopkeeper’s trust that a customer will pay for goods at a later time. Credere also gave us *creed, credence [ME], credential [LME], credible [LME], and incredulous [L16th]. You can give credit where credit is due [E19th] to show that you think someone deserves to be given praise. The earlier form of the saying was ‘honour where honour is due’, a phrase from the Bible, from the Epistle to the Romans: ‘Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.’