CREDENCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does credence mean? 

• CREDENCE (noun)
  The noun CREDENCE has 2 senses:

1. the mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true

2. a kind of sideboard or buffet

  Familiarity information: CREDENCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CREDENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

acceptance; credence

Context example:

acceptance of Newtonian mechanics was unquestioned for 200 years

Hypernyms ("credence" is a kind of...):

attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "credence"):

fatalism (a submissive mental attitude resulting from acceptance of the doctrine that everything that happens is predetermined and inevitable)

recognition (an acceptance (as of a claim) as true and valid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A kind of sideboard or buffet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

credence; credenza

Hypernyms ("credence" is a kind of...):

buffet; counter; sideboard (a piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room; has shelves and drawers)

 Context examples 

New research lends credence to an unorthodox retelling of the story of early Earth that was first proposed by a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

(Earth's mantle, not its core, may have generated planet's early magnetic field, National Science Foundation)

You are the slave to the opinions which have credence among the people you have known and have read about.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The discovery gives credence to the theory that Mars may have once been in conditions similar to early Earth.

(Methane Gas May Have Caused Greenhouse Effect on Young Mars, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers conclude that their estimates are in line with the results of other researchers with the same goal, giving their findings more credence.

(Researchers Estimate Mass of Milky Way to Be 3.9 Tredecillion Pounds, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Du Guesclin gazed round the tapestried room, at the screens, the tables, the abace, the credence, the buffet with its silver salver, and the half-circle of friendly, wondering faces.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The new fossil assemblage lends credence to a scenario the scientists call the "Out of Tibet" hypothesis.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

However, having both Saturn and Pluto gazing at 180 degrees across the sky at the time of the full moon brings another layer of credence to the axiom that you are receiving a nonnegotiable message—one that is final and true—and you’ll need to adapt to changing circumstances.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)