credo

noun

cre·​do ˈkrē-(ˌ)dō  ˈkrā- 

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".

Synonyms

• creed
• cult
• faith
• persuasion
• religion

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

As… The Nazis in Scandinavia A CORNER stone of the Nazi credo is a mystic belief in the superiority of the Nordic race. —Joachim Joesten, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2024

But her dreamlike formalism has long resisted the influence of any collective credo, and the highly refined acting style that she’s come to elicit from her performers, often described as Bressonian in its avoidance of extraneous emotion, is one reason for that. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 June 2024

Because of pitch counts, innings limits and the analytics credo of not allowing starting pitchers to face batters a third time around the order, baseball has created a whole new generation of five-inning starters. —Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2024

The kidnapping profoundly shook Israeli society, with its credo that not a single soldier should be left behind. —Adam Sella, New York Times, 26 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, I believe

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

credo

noun

cre·​do ˈkrēd-ō  ˈkrād- 

plural credos

: creed