credo

noun

plural credos
: a guiding belief or principle : creed
Going forward is Iacocca's credo. If you don't go forward, he says, you go backward.Bill Powell
As both a gambler and an inventor, Ragozin relied only on his instincts and his talent … . Self-reliance became a credo.Jeff Coplon
In an age when Confucian ethics had become the official credo of the regime and the Buddhist sects were brought under strict government control, the most creative and gifted artists found inspiration in secular themes.John M. Rosenfield

Did you know?

Credo comes straight from the Latin word meaning "I believe", and is the first word of many religious credos, or creeds, such as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. But the word can be applied to any guiding principle or set of principles. Of course, you may choose a different credo when you're 52 than when you're 19. But here is the credo of the writer H. L. Mencken, written after he had lived quite a few years: "I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than to be ignorant".

Examples of credo in a Sentence

the credo of the ancient Egyptians involved a variety of polytheism we must abide by the simple credo that “The customer is always right”
Recent Examples on the Web Grande set the tone by posting a credo for the new year. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2024 In Jackson’s intersectional credo, art speaks many languages and radiates many shades of meaning. Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2024 Over subsequent decades, this credo would face challenges, including from New Deal–era progressives wary of rich men ascribing to charity what was properly the realm of the state and of McCarthyite conservatives targeting philanthropic foundations as part of anticommunist fearmongering. Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024 Its implicit credo is empirical and material: there is a stubborn physicality to it—bodies and babies and wheat fields and boulevards. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023 That credo demands that prison is made to be more humane, and more normalized, turning the guards into at least part-time social workers. Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2023 Curiously, Rustin’s credo was once the consensus view of people who combined prudential sense with political principle, whether Albert Camus or Clement Attlee, George Orwell or Eleanor Roosevelt. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023 Summarizing the movement’s credo in 1945, the Black legal theorist Pauli Murray wrote that the only way to end racial discrimination in the workplace was to create a full-employment economy for all. Corey Robin, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2023 The acquisition, which was led by Constellation Brands’ portfolio company Prisoner Wine Company is ushering a relaunch of the brand, complete with a new brand aesthetic and refined credo. Jasmine Browley, Essence, 1 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'credo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, I believe

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of credo was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near credo

Cite this Entry

“Credo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/credo. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

credo

noun
plural credos
: creed

More from Merriam-Webster on credo

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