Accredit

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈkɹɛd.ɪt/

Definitions

1. To officially recognize or authorize as meeting certain standards ; to attribute or ascribe credit or responsibility to someone or something
2. To grant formal approval or certification to an institution or individual ; to acknowledge or assign credit for an action or achievement
3. To provide formal recognition and endorse as qualified or legitimate ; to declare that a particular source or person deserves recognition for a specific contribution

Etymology: The verb "accredit" carries a financial idea at its core. Its root is "credit," which comes from Latin "credere," meaning "to believe" or "to trust," and "credit" originally meant trust in someone's word or reliability before it came to mean money owed or lent. French took the idea and built "accréditer" from "à" ("to") plus "crédit," so to accredit someone was, literally, to put them into trust or good standing. English adopted the word in the 1610s. That literal sense of lending someone a reputation is still visible in the modern meanings. An accredited school or inspector has been vouched for by an authority, and a diplomat is accredited when a government formally recognises them as its representative. Crediting an achievement to a person follows the same logic, since the word moves from trust in a person toward recognising what they have done.

Synonyms: authorize, certify, validate, recognize, endorse

Antonyms: discredit, invalidate, reject, refuse, deny