FromMiddle Englishcrede, fromOld Englishcrēda,crēdo, fromLatincrēdō(“I believe”), fromProto-Italic*krezdō, fromProto-Indo-European*ḱred dʰeh₁-(“to place one's heart, i.e., to trust, believe”), acompound phrase of theoblique case form of*ḱḗr(“heart”).Creed iscognate withOld Irishcretim(“to believe”),Sanskritश्रद्दधाति(śráddadhāti,“to have faith or faithfulness, to have belief or confidence, believe”).

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/kɹiːd/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/kɹid/

• Audio(General American):

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• Audio(General Australian):

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• Rhymes:-iːd

• Audio(UK):

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creed (pluralcreeds)

1. That which isbelieved;accepteddoctrine, especiallyreligious doctrine; a particular set ofbeliefs; anysummary ofprinciples oropinionsprofessed oradhered to.
   • 1813, Lord Byron,The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale, London:[…]T[homas] Davison, […], forJohn Murray, […],→OCLC,page12:

     Oh! who young Leila's glance could read / And keep that portion of hiscreed / Which saith, that woman is but dust, / A soulless toy for tyrant's lust?

   • 1881,John Younger, “Introductory Chapter”, inAutobiography of John Younger, Shoemaker, St. Boswells‎^[1],Kelso, Scotland: J. & J.H. Rutherfurd, page xiv:

     Man, being the child of imitation, has a general tendency in life and in religion to follow thecreed and tastes of his fathers, whether in the ways of wisdom or folly—perhaps more readily in the latter.

   • 1923,Song Ong Siang, “The Tenth Decade (1909–19): Second Part”, inOne Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore: […], London:John Murray, […],→OCLC,page522:

     For three successive years, thereafter, as the anniversary of the War [i.e.,World War I] came round, equally large assemblies of British subjects of all races andcreeds came together in the[Victoria] Theatre to reaffirm the resolution to carry on the war to a victorious end, until at last, after many vicissitudes, victory was secured to the Allies.

   • 1982 February 12,Steve Harris, “Run to the Hills”, performed byIron Maiden:

     He killed our tribes he killed ourcreed. / He took our game for his own need

   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, inThe Guardian‎^[2], London, archived fromthe original on29 June 2017:

     Pakistan is a conservative, religious state. The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste,creed, religion and sect. This strict stance has led to some criticism from religious groups.

2. (specifically,religion) Areading orstatement ofbelief thatsummarizes thefaith it represents; aconfession of faith for public use, especially one which isbrief andcomprehensive.

   Acreed is amanifesto of religious or spiritual beliefs

   • 1604, Jeremy Corderoy,A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold inPaules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson,→OCLC,page40:

     [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of theCreed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied,[…]

   • 2015,Alister [Edgar] McGrath, “Getting the Most out ofApostles’ Creed”, inApostles’ Creed (LifeGuide Bible Studies), Downers Grove, Ill.:InterVarsity Press,→ISBN,page 6:

     The Apostles'Creed was not the onlycreed to come into existence in the period of the early church. However, it is the oldest and simplestcreed of the church. All Christian traditions recognize its authority and its importance as a standard of doctrine. To study the Apostles'Creed is to investigate a central element of our common Christian heritage.

3. (rare) The fact ofbelieving; belief, faith.
   • 1819,[Lord Byron], “Canto I”, inDon Juan, London: Printed byThomas Davison,Whitefriars,→OCLC, stanza CVI,page56:

     Oh love! how perfect is thy mystic art, / Strengthening the weak, and trampling on the strong, / How self-deceitful is the sagest part / Of mortals whom thy lure hath led along— / The precipice she stood on was immense, / So was hercreed in her own innocence.

• Apostles' Creed
• Athanasian Creed
• Nicene Creed

creed (third-person singular simple presentcreeds,present participlecreeding,simple past and past participlecreeded)

1. (ambitransitive,obsolete, only survives in "creeded") Tobelieve; tocredit.
   • 1645 March 4,J[ohn] M[ilton],Colasterion: A Reply to a Nameles Ansvver against The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Wherein the Trivial Author of that Answer is Discover’d, the Licencer Conferr’d with, and the Opinion which They Traduce Defended,[London]:[Printed by Matthew Simmons?],→OCLC; republished inThe Works of John Milton, Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous. Now More Correctly Printed from the Originals, than in Any Former Edition, and may Passages Restored, which have been hitherto Omitted. To which is Prefixed, an Account of His Life and Writings [byThomas Birch]. In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed forA[ndrew] Millar, in theStrand,1753,→OCLC,page326:

     Only this I marvelled, and other men have since, whenas I, in a ſubject ſo new to this age, and ſo hazardous to pleaſe, concealed not my name, why this author, defending that part which is ſocreeded by the people, would conceal his.

   • 1731, Simon Scriblerus[pseudonym],Whistoneutes: Or, Remarks on Mr.Whiston’s Historical Memoirs of the Life of Dr.Samuel Clarke, &c., London: Printed for T. Warner, at th Black-Boy inPater-Noster-Row,→OCLC,page42:

     And ſo, no doubt, were hisother Preferments as acceptable, which did require ſuchAthanaſsian Subſcriptions, &c. and which he in anAthanaſian Form ſubſcrib'd,creeded, andworſhip'd for till his dying-day.

   • [1873, John Harland, “Creed”, inA Glossary of Words Used in Swaledale, Yorkshire (Series C (Original Glossaries, and Glossaries with Fresh Editions); 4), London: Published for theEnglish Dialect Society, byTrübner & Co., 57 & 59,Ludgate Hill,→OCLC,page45:

     'I was n't forcreeding me awn e'en,' believing my own eyes.]

2. (intransitive) Toprovide with acreed.
   • 1872, “The Survivor”[pseudonym; Walter Rowton], “Part the Fourth”, inHal and I. In Four Parts, London:Elliot Stock, 62Paternoster Row,→OCLC,page122:

     The poor like Priests—Priests utilise the poor; / High Church the common people feeding / Exclaims—"You Low Church indolents observe / How we go about leavening andcreeding!"

   • 1977, Peter Slater, “Religion as Story: The Biography of Norman Bethune”, in Peter Slater, editor,Religion and Culture in Canada = Religion et Culture au Canada, Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion,→ISBN,page290:

     Especially in the studies of religions lesscreeded than Christianity scholars have long insisted on the importance in religion of sacred stories.

• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “creed”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
• “creed”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.

•  creed on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
•  creed (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• ceder,cered,rec'ed

creed

1. second-personpluralimperative ofcreer